Levelling the playing field

Over the past few months, much has been made of the challenges that the shift to remote working presents. 

But I’d like to look at one of the ways in which the events of this year have made work better.

By shifting away from the office and rethinking how we collaborate, we’ve inadvertently found multiple ways to make work more inclusive, equitable and better support diversity.

I believe the shift to remote has helped, and that we need to maintain these new habits for the long term.

Seeing eye to eye

In my stockinged feet I’m a touch under five feet tall. So working in the alpha world of banking for years I’ve grown used to navigating the dynamics of power and gender at work.

In real world meeting rooms people use age, size, class and gender as a quick heuristic to work out who’s in charge. 

I’m used to people talking down to me - literally - and have developed a string of tricks to manage this (my favourite is standing up and taking control of the whiteboard, so I’m the same height as everyone sitting down – but, crucially, I’m running the show).

But now we’re having those meetings on Webex instead. And that means we’re all at eye level. Suddenly the dynamic is different, making it harder for people to dominate the virtual room. This, in turn, allows other voices to be heard.

This pays real dividends. Research shows inclusion helps to keep employees engaged, teams collaborative, and organisations innovative. And all of that’s essential if we’re to keep businesses running in these challenging times. 

But there’s more to do. When we feel threatened or under pressure we tend to default to our familiar biases. It’s all too easy to become goal-focused and forget to include everyone.

To really make a success of our new ways of working and ensure everyone can participate, meetings need to be well run.

First, focus on meeting logistics.

• Provide clarity. Have a clear purpose for your meeting. Share your intent before asking for inputs. I use a model I call PO2: ensuring every meeting has a clear Purpose, defined Outputs, and clear intended Outcomes
• Encourage the use of video. As I’ve blogged about before, being able to see one another builds a sense of connection, relatedness and empathy. (But remember not everyone is able to do this. Some - but not all - neurodivergent people may have issues with video, so it’s important to check in with folks around how that can be managed. For example, a lack of eye contact does not necessarily mean people are bored. Ensure subtitles are available.)
• Be human. Check in with people and make sure everyone is ok. Let people know they are important and explain how you’ll ensure everyone has a chance to participate. Remind people of tools like the raise hand feature or chat feature so they don’t feel they need to talk over one another to be heard, or use chat features to talk to people one-on-one in breakouts.
• Be prepared. Share the agenda ahead of time so those who want to can prepare if needed. If there is a big decision to be made, allow people to think about it before the meeting comes around.
• Think beyond the meeting time. Allow people to forward thoughts both before and after the meeting. And be sure to follow up with details of what's been decided. This allows recognition of home-life getting in the way of work-life, and can help information processing for some autistic people.

Then focus on behaviours

• Think inclusion first. Focus on hearing from everyone, not just the loudest voices. Remember attendees are a source of ideas and inspiration, not a threat.
• Encourage participation. Ask questions more than giving opinions. Chip in only after others have shared their views. Remember, feedback can be made more unobtrusive, for example by hitting thumbs up or smiley face rather than interjecting verbally.
• Give people space. Don’t rush to fill time. Leave space when people have finished speaking to allow them to finish thinking. Often we have more to say, if given time to do so. 
• Build psychological safety. Encourage people to ‘think out loud’, and create an environment where it’s ok to make mistakes. Ensure people feel valued even if - or especially if - their answers challenge your preconceived ideas. Remember that how you respond to an unexpected contribution determines if people will contribute to the rest of the meeting. Let people know it’s ok to spring a surprise.

Mixing modes of communication to be more inclusive

As time’s gone on we’ve shifted from endless video calls to using a toolbox of methods, combining video with text chat and document editing. This shift to asynchronous collaboration can - if managed well - be more inclusive than regular meetings. 

Communication studies research - popularised in concepts like genderlect theory - shows gender impacts how we communicate, with women typically using relationship-building through private conversations more regularly, with men preferring public forums where they can demonstrate power.

And the same applies at work. Studies show that male voices dominate in-person meetings, while under-represented groups, in particular women, are more comfortable contributing via enterprise social tools as they allow people to cogitate before contributing. 

This shift away from real-time to asynchronous collaboration privileges quality of contribution over speed, driving up the quality of teamwork overall. This may also make it easier for neurodivergent people to contribute and collaborate.

By providing a variety of tools and methods for communication and collaboration to suit different communication styles and preferences, we enable everyone to participate in the ways they feel comfortable. In that way we can make meetings 10x better regardless if they’re in-person or virtual.

Disconnecting work from time and place

The office 9 to 5 has long put some groups at a disadvantage. 

At the offices of one of my former employers, a shift to hotdesking meant whoever got in last - like working parents who had to manage a nursery drop-off - found themselves consigned to a desk at the other end of the floor.

The events of this year, where people have been juggling remote work with school closures and social distancing, means the concept of the working day has changed enormously. 

Software giant Atlassian recently reviewed customer data on how the project management tools we all love to hate (Jira and so on) have been used since lockdowns began. Unsurprisingly, they found people are starting earlier and finishing later, as work bleeds into personal time. 

But the analysis also showed a relative decrease in usage in traditional working hours. This suggests people aren’t necessarily working more, but rather are shifting their work around other responsibilities, like caring for children after school as childcare is unavailable.

This shift away from the traditional working day provides further opportunities to make work more inclusive. By shifting from hours worked to outputs delivered, we open up opportunities to those who might otherwise be excluded from roles. 

Collaboration technology - and the smart use of those tools - enables that shift towards hybrid working that relies less on geography-based hiring or standard working days. This is a win-win, broadening the pool of talent available for recruitment.

Removing barriers

People with visible disabilities often face additional barriers to employment. 

For example, some people with disabilities find colleagues see the disability first. One side effect of home working is that these differences are less obvious to colleagues, potentially leading to reduced discrimination.

But just because differences aren’t obvious doesn’t mean they no longer exist. Managers and HR teams should make necessary adjustments to accommodate disabilities for those working at home too. This could be anything from providing assistive technology to ensuring people don’t talk over one another to accommodate audio processing issues. 

Remember that many accommodations for disability may help out all employees. For example, while using captions on Webex calls specifically helps both those with hearing impairments and some neurodivergent folk, it can be helpful for all colleagues to follow the meeting (particularly if competing against a noisy home environment).

Building back with empathy

Another side effect of this year’s rapid shift to home is that we’ve all had a greater insight into each other’s lives - from glances of family homes to learning to support one another as we struggle to deal with the stresses and strains this year’s presented. 

UK mental health charity Mind have created a wellness action plan (WAP) for home working. The WAP provides a personalised, practical tool to support wellbeing whether we have a mental health problem or not. 

By taking this kind of an individualised approach that accommodates specific needs and challenges, we can ensure everyone has the right environment and tools to be productive and feel supported. 

Collaboration technology plays a critical role in creating that level playing field environment, where everyone is able to participate regardless of geography, language, disability and personal communication preferences.

As we think about a return to normality as vaccines are rolled out, let’s take this opportunity to build on what we’ve learned this year to build back better. 

If we can embrace these changes we can make work more inclusive and equitable for the long term ㄧ with benefits for people and business.

Written in paid partnership with Cisco.