3 Listening Activities to Drive Your DEI Progress.
Whenever I start to work with an organisation, the first question I ask is,
‘So, how do you think you are doing?
I will be talking to the leader of the organisation or a senior member of staff who has been tasked with engaging a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion consultant to help them with this area. Something will have prompted them to engage with this work. That might be:
An organisational event, such as a complaint
External pressures
Personal values
Feedback from stakeholders
When I ask people how they think they are doing? What I want to know is: what is their perception of the current state? They may be able to identify some areas for development or improvement, largely based on any existing feedback they have. However, I have never engaged with a client or organisation who truly knows what their performance is like in terms of diversity, and how stakeholders feel about inclusion.
The only way to truly know how well your organisation is performing in terms of diversity and inclusion, is to listen. How do we do this?
#1 Implement a Survey
Surveys are a good way of providing a listening opportunity for lots of people. They can be as complex and detailed, or as simple as you need. You can ask people to tell you about themselves and gather data on the demographics of your organisation which helps you to identify diversity at all levels.
The most powerful way I have found to use a survey is to measure inclusion. This can look like:
To what extent do you feel able to be yourself at ……?
To what extent do you feel included at…..?
Where/when do you feel the most safe at …..?
Where/when do you feel the most anxious…..?
What can we do to make you feel more comfortable at….?
Do you feel able to meet your full potential at….?
Responses to these questions help you to get an accurate assessment of how well you are really doing. You will know how included people really feel and where you can do better. When combined with data gathering on demographics, you can measure to what extent different groups of people at different levels feel.
#2 Focus Group Discussions
Survey data is useful, but what is really useful is providing deep listening opportunities. Focus group discussions, especially if they are facilitated by a professional, are a powerful way of finding out about the stories and experiences of individuals. These put data into context and bring it to life.
Focus group discussions also help to build trust. They demonstrate to people that you are truly committed to making a difference and improving things for them.
#3 Create stakeholder led steering groups
I’m saying steering groups here, but you might prefer working groups or affinity groups. The important thing is to be clear about their purpose. Affinity groups tend to be more about a collective experience which might be cathartic to begin with, and which also help to make people feel validated and part of a community.
Working groups and steering groups should have some teeth. They should be used to drive improvements in diversity, equity, and inclusion in a structured way. Whilst they too may have affinity characteristics, they should help to support any action plans in place for change. These groups should be chaired and meet regularly. Importantly, they should provide suggestions on how to improve, and leaders should report back to them, on how they have implemented those suggestions.
Regular meetings, mean that listening activities are continuous.
I always recommend that these listening activities happen regularly. Surveys and focus group discussions can be repeated yearly or bi-annually, which also helps organisations to monitor and evaluate their progress.
How Can I Help
I’ve supported many organisations by constructing or delivering their survey, facilitating their focus group discussions and acting as a critical friend to help evaluate inclusion progress. Book a discovery discussion with me if you would like my help.