Agile for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

As a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion strategist my stakeholders are every single person in an organisation. I work with leaders, teams, individual contributors who complete the organisation. Each individual and team have their own area to address when in come to inclusion, and then there is the organisations vision and goal when it comes to inclusion. It is important to define what diversity means to the organisation and from there the journey is to how inclusion in achieved. Equity must be a way to achieve the inclusion we desire for.

Before we go to inclusion, it is important to acknowledge the exclusion. Intention does not translate into inclusion. Active efforts is a way towards inclusion.

Assessing exclusion quantitatively is not possible without setting criteria on how exclusion is discussed. For example; one cannot focus on the underrepresented minorities alone to assess exclusion. In fact, it is important to start with why certain groups of people are over-represented. That will lead to not only see those who are excluded but also to understand why the exclusion happens.

Agile for Inclusion?

A common question I get often is where does one start when the organisation plans to work on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion? Inclusion is the right thing to do, and that is how every space has to be. But if we do not have the right approach or framework, one can get lost in the journey.

I have used my tech background in my career to approach Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at workplaces. It is important that the approach you choose must compliment the efforts. Agile for Inclusion is something I base my approach to start with.

The Agile methodology is a way to manage a project into several phases. Like how I have various stakeholders to collaborate with constantly, agile involves constant collaboration with stakeholders. And at every stage, there is a progressive improvement. There are four main values in Agile manifesto which breaks down the approach for DEI:

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
• Working software over comprehensive documentation
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
• Responding to change over following a plan

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

Inclusion is about people and not process. It is important to understand and acknowledge that exclusion happens due to a broken process. As a DEI strategist it is important for me to prioritise people over the process. We need to understand the process are for people and not vice versa. Unless we know what our people want, it is not possible to focus on the right process or build one. So prioritising our employees and engaging with them to understand what is required is important. And this should be the first step.

Working software over comprehensive documentation

What this means in product development is that a team’s focus must be over a working product than documenting every aspect of the project. How I see this with respect to DEI is that it is important to walk the walk when it comes to inclusion efforts rather than having it in papers alone. A written policy is important but becomes obsolete when there is no efforts to have the required culture change. But here is more for me to add. As someone who has spent equal number of years working with the communities and in advocacy spaces; I strongly support a written policy document to establish the organisations view on inclusion. But this alone is not enough.

For example; having a policy that says “no one should be discriminated based on their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression” is of no use if there is no active efforts to embed those values in practice.

Here the “working software” for me is an “organisation where everybody feels belonged” and the documentation is “the policies”. A software isn’t considered working if it is only 80% completed. For software products a working software means when it meets all that is defined in its scope.

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

Agile principles require the customers to be involved in all phases of the project. If the customers are kept in loop during the development process, the team can ensure that the final product meets all the requirements of the customer.

When it comes to DEI, customers are our stakeholders. Each and every employee of the organisation. It is important to work along with our employees in all the efforts. Engaging with employees in the start and then expecting a feedback only after the program is rolled out is a waste of time and resource. Engaging them throughout helps us to travel in the right direction. Understanding their needs, and their requirement helps in framing the right programs that will have maximum impact.

Responding to change over following a plan

In continuation of what I said above, it is important to engage throughout. A plan is important in setting the goal and to achieve it. But it becomes redundant if we do not correct course then and there based on the required change during the journey. Adaptability is most important when driving inclusion efforts.

Here are the 12 principles of Agile manifesto which I have modified for the agile framework for DEI:

1. Highest priority to employee satisfaction.
2. Be adaptable and open to change.
3. Set short- and long-term goals.
4. Ensure engagement with all the stakeholders.
5. Encourage change makers and trailblazers by providing them resources and guidance to achieve the inclusion efforts.
6. Be the bridge to connect the leaders and the employees.
7. Measure impact. Define how you want to measure impact.
8. Strategise sustainable programs.
9. Focus on continual improvement.
10. Seek and deliver knowledge.
11. Visualise on creating a self-organising inclusive workplace.
12. Reflect and assess on the progress and adapt accordingly.