What great habits can you create?
LearnX Day: Make your workplace more inclusive and welcoming for all.
Creating an inclusive culture starts with understanding ourselves and our biases, exploring others’ unique experiences, and taking action to ensure everyone has an opportunity to speak, be heard, and be recognized for their contribution. Take a few moments to learn new habits that will help you build a more inclusive culture today.
1. Inclusive Communication
Blind spots: Overcome stereotypes
Stereotypes can unknowingly hinder our communication. Awareness of our biases can lead to inclusive communication with co-workers and customers. Learn more about prototype bias (our preconceived notion of whom we think is right for a particular position or promotion), how it can backfire, and what we can do about it to help make better decisions and build better habits at work. (Beginner · 3:25)
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Blind spots may result in missed opportunities. Don't make assumptions based on your idea of fit because success is not one-size-fits-all. Share the "why" behind your decisions to double-check your objectivity.
3 ways to create a work culture that brings out the best in people
We become disengaged or "check out" when we feel like we are not being heard or feel like we do not belong. Watch the video to learn about how we can help our colleagues bring their life experiences to work for better creativity and productivity. (Intermediate · 12:38)
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Invite people to speak up at work and in meetings. Ask, "What don't we talk about that we should be talking about?" Make these invitations routine in the workplace so that it becomes commonplace.
A guide to using pronouns and gender-inclusive language in the office
A thriving workspace starts when people feel like they can be themselves. Getting in the habit of using pronouns can make all the difference. This article shares tips for using and introducing pronouns as the norm in your office. Using pronouns and gender-inclusive language can lead to better communication for everyone — whether you're transgender or simply someone with a name that could be mistaken for a different gender between different languages, cultures, or generations. (Beginner · 6:11)
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Be mindful and remember...everyone makes mistakes. The important thing is to take the feedback and immediately integrate it into your language. Don’t call more attention to the error by apologizing or brining it up again.
For example, This is Alex, she is on my sales team. (you are corrected because Alex uses they/them/theirs pronouns). They are on my sales team. Or Thank you, they are on my sales team.
How to lead inclusive meetings
Did you know that 78% of Asian employees feel like their ideas are heard and acknowledged in meetings compared to 86% of white employees? By leading more inclusive meetings, you empower your team to speak up, feel heard, and contribute more. This creates a sense of inclusivity and a more equitable environment in the workplace. (Intermediate · 3:20)
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Take a facilitator role in your next meeting to create a safe space for everyone to share viewpoints and foster discussion. Be aware of your body language so that you are attentive to everyone's contributions. Use this this guide (click here) to help foster inclusive conversations in your workplace!
2. Inclusive Programming
What Agile software development can teach us about Diversity and Inclusion
Software development is an evolving field. It started as separate units, was worked on in phases, and passed between teams until the product was deployed to users. The groups rarely interacted with each other in the development process. This process has evolved into an agile approach where teams foster inclusiveness, focusing on collaboration and shared professional opinions. The process involves the developers as well as the users. The evolution of the processes shows the benefits of diversity and inclusion in the software development system. (Advanced · 5:30)
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An inclusive software development process includes collaboration and building an inclusive culture where sharing professional ideas are encouraged. Use cross-team initiatives to create this type of environment (click here). Remind your team of the company's mission. This will encourage team members to think outside the box to better their team, the office, and the company as a whole.
Clean code with inclusive language
Racist coding language in the tech industry has been present for decades. The "master" and the "slave" concept within computing is a metaphor used to explain the dependency of one part of technology on another part of technology. In addition, "blacklist" and "whitelist" are used to symbolize bad vs. good. Learn what one tech company did to use inclusive coding terminology in their workplace. (Intermediate · 6:00)
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If you find yourself saying/using a culturally insensitive term, correct yourself. Become familiar with your new terminology. Get in the habit of using inclusive language (when coding and otherwise) to ensure that coworkers are not offended or excluded.
3. Accessibility
Make your video calls accessible
An increase in digital resources in the workplace has brought a heightened awareness of accessibility issues. Leading accessible meetings allows participants to engage and contribute fully. Here are some tips for how to make your remote meetings accessible for everyone! (Beginner · 9:30)
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In meetings, have a note-taker. This way, everyone can pay attention to the meeting and not focus on writing notes. A note-taker will allow for different processing speeds. In addition, it will enable the employees to refer back to notes after the meeting in case they process information at a different rate or need more time to formulate questions or ideas.
Color blindness: how to design an accessible user interface
Designing software and resources for colorblind people can easily be forgotten because most people are not colorblind. About 4.5% of the entire population is colorblind. Color blindness can affect people differently, so it is important to design accessible software for all. Every type of colorblindness causes inconvenience that carries over to the user experience. What should software designers keep in mind? (Intermediate · 7:00)
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Don’t rely on color when designing software or resources. Supplement color with a caption or an icon to ensure accessibility for all users.
4. Cross-cultural Collaboration
Low context vs. high context societies
Have you ever worked with a colleague and were surprised they didn’t understand what you thought was very clearly communicated? Learn about the delicate balance between societies that communicate with "low context" and those that use "high context." Become proficient and develop helpful habits when communicating across cultures. This may help you understand others’ intentions and workplace habits better when working with colleagues around the globe. (Intermediate · 4:05)
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Use this Compare Countries (click here) site to learn how different cultures communicate and get useful communication tips!
Note: This is a starting place for research but not an all-encompassing resource. It is constantly being updated.
Effective cross-cultural communication
In today's society, people of different cultures will inevitably interact and work with each other. Cultures will meet, blend, and sometimes clash. It is essential to maintain etiquette to ensure successful communication. (Intermediate · 4:06)
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Practice active listening. If anything in the conversation is unclear, ask questions to clear up misunderstandings. At the end of the conversation, summarize the topics of discussion. A summary helps clarify any misconceptions or miscommunications that may occur when speaking with people from different cultures.
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