Designing For Equity & Inclusion: Why asking the right questions is the most important first step
One of the most life-giving elements of the work we do at The Coven is to openly, intentionally, and joyfully demonstrate care — and often that begins by simply asking. On any given day we listen to truths about our members’ lived experiences. We ask questions that help us understand what it is that makes them feel seen, what creates belonging. And from there we take action based on what we’ve heard and learned.
The Coven’s founding team is made up of four women who left the advertising industry to pursue our entrepreneurial dreams. Two of us are qualitative researchers by trade, resulting in a strong bias for asking questions. In fact, the very concept of The Coven was built on insights gathered over months of facilitated conversations with hundreds of women, non-binary, and trans people about their experiences in the workplace.
When we started conducting focus groups and feedback sessions to inform the design of The Coven, we learned many of the people we talked with shared similar stories. Nearly everyone we spoke with expressed that no one had taken the time to ask about their experiences prior to our conversation; though they were eager to share their stories and have their voices heard. Four years later we continue to use research to help further conversations -and more importantly- create change related to equity and inclusion in the workplace.
“Questioning is a uniquely powerful tool for unlocking value in organizations: It spurs learning and the exchange of ideas, it fuels innovation and performance improvement, it builds rapport and trust…and it can mitigate business risk by uncovering unforeseen pitfalls and hazards.” — Harvard Business Review, The Surprising Power of Questions
While equity and inclusion lead The Coven’s mission, we are not a DEIJ consultancy. The Coven is about spacemaking, professional development, and community. Though The Coven’s day-to-day business and our research work overlap, we saw the need to separate the two practices. And so, we launched Empress: a research practice that works with organizations of all types to better understand — and design — a new future of work. Our research superpower is designing and facilitating qualitative studies that illuminate diverse points of view with nuance and complexity; asking unexpected questions to identify new opportunities around inclusion, equity, and accountability.
Why Qualitative Research?
If you’re not familiar, qualitative research is a type of scientific research that looks to answer a specific question or set of questions using planned, predetermined methods. It can be used to gather information through a number of approaches, but always seeks to understand an issue, or research problem from a person-first perspective. Qualitative research is a go-to approach when looking to learn about the behaviors, beliefs, experiences, opinions and values that shape us.
Its greatest strength is found in its rich, detailed descriptions of how people experience a given issue. Qualitative research illuminates the humanity in the problem to be solved. It sheds light on complex factors like social conditioning, cultural norms, gender roles, racism, and other fundamental parts of our identities that can’t easily be identified through data points alone. Layering rich human insights together with quantitative data allows us to both deeply understand the problem to be solved and ensure findings that are relevant to a broad group.
One caveat: all people’s lived experiences are unique and should be honored as such. However, clear themes often emerge when asking groups of people who’ve been historically marginalized or underestimated about their experiences. This is at the heart of the work we do at Empress, connect with those whose voices are often not heard and ensure their feedback, ideas, and pain gets shared with key stakeholders, organizational leaders, and policy-makers.
If asking the right questions is so important, why aren’t more organizations doing it? We could point to many reasons, but one finding stands out as particularly noteworthy: “few executives think of questioning as a skill that can be honed — or consider how their own answers to questions could make conversations more productive” (Harvard Business Review, The Surprising Power of Questions). Meaning many in positions of power aren’t asking meaningful questions because they aren’t sure it will make a measurable difference, though through our research we see it does.
Our Process in Action
Recently, Empress had an opportunity to conduct multiple two-part studies with Minnesota-based organizations looking to address issues of equity and inclusion within their walls. Though the studies were focused on notably different topics, each of our clients wanted to know what was working — and what wasn’t, what opportunities existed, and what action should be taken as a result.
In the first study, we worked with local organization Make It. MSP., a part of Greater MSP. We spoke with more than 75 employees of color from around Minnesota to illuminate the gaps, successes, and hopes regarding equity and inclusion within their workplaces. The objective of this research was to unearth and elevate straightforward ways to build accountability into racial equity workplace solutions. Our aim was to provide insights to assist organizations as they evolve towards a more equitable future.
As a direct output of that research, we identified Six Actionable Ideas to inspire and guide organizations of all sizes and industries. In addition to Six Actionable Ideas, Empress created case studies from four Twin Cities organizations, highlighting the ups and downs of their journeys as they work to increase diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice within their walls and the community at large.
In the second case, we conducted a two-part study in partnership with the University of Minnesota’s Hubbard School of Journalism. The study was designed to identify pain points and opportunities related to academic and extra-curricular programming in the spirit of creating offerings that engage all students and foster belonging. Additionally, our aim was to identify opportunities within the Hubbard School beyond programming deserving of attention and innovation as their leadership looks to further progress existing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
We began with a ‘Community Pulse’ survey of more than 240 current students and recent University of Minnesota alumni. Our goal was to investigate current programming and unearth new opportunities to create engaging programming for students of the Hubbard School. To ensure the voices of underrepresented students were heard loud and clear, Empress’ research team designed a survey for BIPOC students, then ran specific analysis in order to thoroughly understand opportunities to advance equity and inclusion.
Following the survey, Empress conducted three 60-minute virtual co-creation sessions with BIPOC-identifying students from the Hubbard School. This portion of the study was designed to add nuance to findings from the Community Pulse survey as we worked to illuminate new opportunities for programming within the school. Each co-creation session was conducted remotely over Zoom, leveraging an online whiteboard to encourage more substantive collaboration. Students who took part in the co-creation sessions represented a range of class levels and academic interests, providing us with a cross-sectional view of the Hubbard School’s student body. From there, University leaders began action planning solutions to reimagine programming aligned with their inclusivity goals.
Empress’ research is designed and facilitated with careful attention to the layers of complexity that exist within all organizations, with a goal of lifting up voices that are often disregarded. Amplifying their needs to not just show up, but to truly belong.
Leaders must take action beyond public statements of solidarity. For that to happen, they need to meaningfully listen to the suggestions of their communities -but first they’ve got to ask the right questions.
Are you ready for radical change in your organization?
We encourage you to explore findings from the Make It. MSP. Community Pulse research here. We’d love to talk with you about the workplace problems keeping you up at night, and how Empress can help shine a light into the dark corners. Visit us here to sign up for insights about the new future of work or to start a conversation about partnering on your next project.
