In Session: Crafting Inclusive Trainings

Community MeetUp on Harnessing Diversity to Create Effective and Inclusive Learning Environments

If you are a trainer, facilitator or coach, thank you for the role you play in helping organisations build an inclusive culture. Read on :)

Have a seat at the table, have a voice and be heard - this is the essence of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. Consider how satisfied and productive people would be if they all felt a sense of belonging at work.

We had the pleasure to speak with Seena Ravindran , Concentrix's Global Learning Experience Manager. Seena is an instructional designer who is passionate about human development and a strong champion and ally for the inclusion of individuals with disabilities in the workforce.

She talked us through best practices that we might implement as trainers to help create an inclusive culture. Here's a summary of what we discussed:

Step 1: Discovery Calls

Before we get into it, answer me this...

When Seena asked us this, our community got into a detailed role-play -

• How many participants? What is their pain area?
• Were they trained to be sales people?
• Whats their demographic and educational profile?
• Where will the trainings be conducted?

And, while we went through our usual checklist, we discovered the lack of a key question - Does any participant require any special attention?

That's when we discovered that:

• Aranya Naturals is a Natural DyeHouse, where they rehabilitate 39 specially- abled artists who dye textile in dyes from natural dye sources
• Sargasheshi is a handicraft outlet run by employees who have Down Syndrome.

Our Takeaway: As a part of the discovery sessions, always include questions like- Does any participant require any special attention?

Step 2: Build Awareness on Special Needs of Participants

Designing and delivering inclusive trainings requires consideration of the needs of the participants in the programmes.

Seena went over the list of disabilities covered by the RwPD Act 2016 and the proportion identified in Indians. (See below)

This sparked a lot of curiosity about what would and would not work in order to create an inclusive workplace.

Step 3: Pre-Training Checklist

Infrastructure:

• Accessibility and comfort at the location (easy to get to and move around)
• In an online setting, experimenting with the closed caption option during live sessions

Disability Etiquette:

• Keeping the language simple
• Asking people if they need aid before providing it
• Pre-checking activities for people with special needs

Training Collaterals and Assisted Tech Solutions:

• Testing training collaterals against accessibility guides (for example: Here is a comprehensive guide for MS Powerpoint: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/make-your-powerpoint-presentations-accessible-to-people-with-disabilities-6f7772b2-2f33-4bd2-8ca7-dae3b2b3ef25#bkmk_testwin )
• Keeping a lookout for technology that bridges the communication gap

If you have the same question as us - Where do I start...

Seena recommends starting with being certified in Indian Sign Language, which we practiced at the end of the meetup.

(It's fun and the dialect— hand signs—keeps changing region-by-region. Exactly like the spoken word)

Last Thoughts:

The world's governments, corporations, non-governmental organisations, and entrepreneurs are working together to make the world function for everyone. And as trainers, we have a tremendous potential to contribute and empower, don't we?

So if you've read this far, we have a request:

Drop us a comment with your favourite resources, or tips and activities you use to ensure your programs are a safe space for all?