You're leading a diverse team. How do you ensure inclusivity in decision-making processes?

I find it fascinating that so many of these tips begin with the simple practice of looking inward and doing a realistic self-assessment of your commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. After you have solidified that vision, you can commit to building truly representative communities at any decision making "table". I am addressing visible and invisible diversity of thought, race, gender identity, tenure, age, ableism, and neurodiversity. It is the leader's role to set the tone, the direction, and hold themselves and their team accountable.

Make sure everyone in our team can share their ideas freely. Listen to all viewpoints and be fair in decision-making. Explain clearly how each person's input was used in the final decision and executed wherever it was suitable. By creating a respectful and open environment, we ensure that everyone's voice is heard and valued.

To cultivate trust, we need transparency people should have the same kind of training and same process define to them. The start of the discussion should not be projected towards one persons thought process but it should be more of making sure we have all the ideas on the table. When you encourage everyone to bring the ideas few people will automatically go with the ideas present. Post which refinement for the ideas can be done.

Encourage a discussion atmosphere where people talk and bring ideas and then further discuss on those ideas. So that an innovation can be brought up. A focus is present where different set of eyes look at the same solution differently and they work on making sure every small element of the solution which can have issues is resolved and cleared. So independent discussions will be needed.

Set norms and some guidelines for how the discussion should be, every idea should have a lead who would instigate the discussion and also make sure all the people in the team contribute. This could be done with the help of placing some people in a tight spot but still having to make sure the contribution is present. Agreement and bringing people in conversation helps have a inclusive element which sometimes is missed.

Inclusion leads who would be making sure each idea is correctly discussed will need to have some trainings, communication will be one of the big one where they will need to be sure that they include all of them. Also other aspects where there strong areas and the weak areas needs to be made strong which can help them have details on the process and also have some good details on who all can perform what activities in the team and how to identify what to delegate to build that inclusion further.

The above approach provides an objective way to evaluate the lessons learnt which is not only essential for continuos improvement but also enhances performance and accountability of the individuals who participated in the decision process

Absolutely. I agree with the 6 points. To contribute to it. I prioritize creating a psychologically safe environment where all team members feel valued and empowered to contribute. I achieve this by fostering open communication, active listening, and respectful dialogue. Additionally, I ensure diverse representation in decision-making teams, involve the entire team in the process, and actively seek out multiple perspectives. By addressing unconscious biases, providing mentorship, and using data-driven approaches, I aim to create a truly inclusive environment where everyone's voice is heard and valued.

Appreciate the aspect that everyone is giving a chance to some change for some people. For some people it will not be very difficult to make changes considering that they are outspoken and bring ideas, for some people it would be a big change but all need to be appreciated as there will always be some aspect for each one which will be an awkward scenario.