Inclusion at the ground level

Bill Lennan
Sep 7, 2018 · 2 min read

Every company should have a “dirt and sky” approach to inclusion. (thanks to @garyvee for that metaphor) Companies with great inclusion are regularly considered great places to work.

Dirt and sky means being both very tactical at the ground level as well as having an overall long term 30,000 foot strategy perspective.

When you want to effect real change, plan on the tactical side taking time and needing much repetition — behaviors take time to change.

Many people have written and coach about the sky perspective for inclusion — but little has been written about implementing an inclusive practice at the ground level. Let’s start fixing that.

Inclusion at the ground/team level means everyone’s perspective and input is valuable. While this seems obvious, implementing so it actually happens is where it gets more challenging.

Leaders must take pro-active action which lead to feelings of inclusion growing for their team members. This approach works irrespective of the team members attributes. (I’ve used it to help shy white males feel included.)

When people are asked their opinions — at every standup or sprint review — they start to contribute, influence, and feel how included they are. And someone has to diligently ask for those opinions. Plan on this diligence lasting forever.

Team members regularly have a mix of communication styles, some are more outgoing and some are quieter. The outgoing people tend to dominate conversations and the quiet ones are accustomed to not speaking up (even when they have better ideas).

It’s someone’s responsibility to make space and help the quiet ones to speak. Arguably this is the team lead’s job — even if they are usually the dominating voice. I’ve done this as scrum master and product owner — and anyone at any level can be the catalyst.

It can take time and repetition to get the noisier players to have patience, delay the attention, and understand the value of everyone’s perspective.

Yes, this is time well invested, learning and improving team dynamics and performance is a very worthwhile investment. This time investment also dramatically improves feelings of inclusion and belonging.

This simple approach is smart business tactics — which improve culture as a byproduct. If you want to earn kudos as a great place to work — start leveraging these simple ground level tactics.

Bill Lennan

Written by

Co-Founder UpLevel Works. Ardent believer in effort. Parent, partner, persistent, physical.

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