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Three Ways to Promote Inclusive Meetings

Inclusion is an important part of psychological safety within the workplace. An inclusive workplace creates an environment where people can show up as their true selves to work; where employees feel respected, valued, and like they have equal opportunities. Inclusion can involve hiring a diverse workforce, but what about daily interactions and worker experiences? Those everyday interactions can highlight inclusivity and have a big impact on workplace culture. Diversity in combination with inclusion can work together to create psychologically healthier workplaces.

Here are three ways to make meetings more inclusive:

  1. Appoint an inclusion booster for meetings: Many have experienced meetings where it seems that a couple of people dominate the conversations. The variations in personality types can lead to certain people within the group being less likely to share. This can result in leaders and employees missing out on diverse perspectives. An inclusion booster can be appointed for every meeting to help with this. This person makes sure everyone has a voice and feels welcomed. Additional responsibilities the inclusion booster can take on: : monitor speaking times and gently direct conversations, ask clarifying questions, and open space for people who want to speak.
  2. Appreciate the team: Another way to create inclusion is by ensuring people within your team feel valued regardless of who they are, their background, and unique perspectives. There are many ways leaders can express gratitude, from verbal affirmations to celebrations. An important factor to note about expressing gratitude is, it can be for a variety of reasons not limited to successes.
  3. Gather Feedback after meetings: This can really set the stage for creating a psychologically safe workplace place where employees can share feedback without the fear of retaliation. Many teams ensure this process is anonymous, ensuring confidentiality. For example, if you implement different psychological health and safety initiatives within your meetings, ask for anonymous feedback about how this is working.

Reference:

Helbig, K., Norman, M. The Psychological Safety Playbook: Lead More Powerfully by Being More Human. Page Two Press, 2023