Diversity and inclusion has become an important issue for employers seeking to develop effective workplace cultures. As a result, many organisations are focused on finding ways to boost these practices within their businesses.
Diversity and inclusion (D&I) tactics can include employing more younger people or women and greater numbers of staff from different cultural backgrounds. As much as this broadens the diversity within an organisation, there are also other, smaller internal practices that can be adjusted to enhance D&I. This includes changing the settings during meetings at work.
Shifting the Focus – From Numbers to Activities
Usually, numerical diversity – like the number of women in an organisation or the number of workers who are Muslim – is perceived to be the most important factor in measuring workplace diversity. After all, numbers are the way we measure progress and establish success.
However, the common occurrence of workplace meetings and the environment they take place in has a bigger impact on employees’ experience of D&I at work.
This makes the way we hold meetings an important but often overlooked aspect of good diversity and inclusion practice. So, how can you ensure your meetings are inclusive?
What Is an Inclusive Meeting?
An inclusive meeting is a shared environment where all colleagues feel comfortable to contribute their knowledge and ideas in a low pressure setting where all voices are equally valued. Inclusive meetings should also create a sense of emotional safety for the participants.
Ted.com shared an article written by Dolly Chugh in 2018 on how to create inclusive meetings. There are four key questions to ask yourself about how meetings take place in your organisation.
Who Speaks at Your Meetings?
It’s essential that everyone’s voice is heard equally so the person speaking feels like people want to hear them. However, research on interruptions highlights that this doesn’t happen and that there’s a gender bias in many organisations:
- A study from Brigham Young and Princeton Universities found that among a mixed population in a meeting, men take up 75% of the conversation.
- And a study by George Washington University found that men interrupted women 33% more than they interrupted other men.
- Research by Forbes in 2018 noted that men are more likely to view women as: “ruder, less friendly and less intelligent,” if they interrupted in comparison to when men interrupted.
Due to this research, it’s understandable that only 35% of employees surveyed felt consistently comfortable contributing in meetings (Harvard Business Review, 2016).
Ask yourself: who speaks the most at the meeting, who has the biggest voice?
It’s important to note who spoke and, while they spoke, who listened? Did certain people have their heads in their phones while one person was speaking but paid full attention when another person had something to say? Answering these questions will give you action points to improve your meetings.
Who Is Listened To?
Although it’s important to attend to everyone equally, studies show that it’s very common to mute or discount voices of a certain gender or ethnicity.
In a study carried out by Dolly Chugh, participants received advice from different voices when attempting to answer a question. Without intending to, the participants (both male and female) essentially muted the female and minority voices and ignored their (correct) advice.
Why does this happen? Because the majority of people are lazy listeners, meaning that it is very easy to switch off and let the mind wander. People are often thinking of what to say next before even letting the person who’s talking finish speaking.
This is why active listening is so important: to ensure everyone feels involved and comfortable to contribute.
Who Gets the Credit?
Ownership of credit is a competitive field, especially when it comes to meetings. People always tend to give themselves more credit than is due. For example, when asking husbands and wives how much they contribute to household activities, the two percentages given amount to well over 100%.
Over-claiming credit is something many of us do, but so is under-crediting people from groups facing the most amount of bias.
Practical Solutions to Your Meeting Problems
Top female aides to President Obama created a strategy they called “amplification.” When a woman made a key point in a meeting, another woman would repeat it, giving credit to its originator. This both prevented and called out interruptions in male-dominated meetings, and ensured that the woman in question was recognised for her contribution.
Giving someone the credit that they’re due can increase their confidence and also provide more opportunities to them in the future. And this is a tactic that can be adopted across under-represented groups, not just women.
Providing a video conference link for those unable to attend is a practical tool to enhance inclusion so that everyone can be involved. Similarly, recording a meeting and sharing the copy of it with those who could not be there encourages inclusivity.
Consider sending out pre-meeting notes to improve the impact on those who aren’t native English speakers or those more introverted. Reflect on the impact that sending the materials the night before could have in driving global participation (Think Growth, 2015). Also sending out an itinerary for the meeting, such as any relevant data ahead of time and a list of specific discussion questions you plan to cover (and sticking to the time schedule) so that participants can prepare anything they want to share or ask in advance. This will boost the confidence to participate (Harvard Business Review, 2016).
During the meeting, allow more participants who are introverted to share their ideas by inviting people to write ideas on a post-it note and stick it to the whiteboard so that all ideas can be included and discussed. Similarly, asking participants to discuss their ideas in pairs before presenting to the group.
If your organisation doesn’t pass muster when it comes to these inclusive meeting questions, try applying some of the tips in this article. By making your meetings more inclusive, you’ll find new ideas, insights and innovations will come to the fore. Which can only be good for your organisation.
Need help to get beyond your metrics and into practical steps to improve diversity and inclusion? Contact Clare for D&I support on 07594 946166 or at [email protected].
Written by Siobhan Headd.
