Giving Compass' Take:

• Rajkumary Neogy offers three ways for organizations to increase inclusivity to promote employee authenticity and create a safe and productive workplace. 

• What are the consequences of failing to be fully inclusive of all employees? How can philanthropy help the implementation of inclusive company culture? To what extent are nonprofits and foundations falling into the same patterns as the for-profit sector?  

• Find out how increasing diversity can fill the tech talent gap. 

It’s one thing to talk about bringing our authentic selves to work; it’s quite another to actually do so, especially in the face of all the potential triggers an average workday holds. Being interrupted, not having one’s contribution valued, not being asked to come to a meeting — these and other common (and often unintentional) slights can add up to a lack of psychological safety.

“Being neglected is the most challenging experience for the human neurology,” explains Rajkumary Neogy, a consultant whose Disruptive Diversity framework helps team members rewire their nervous systems to create more cohesion and trust.

Designate an advocate to make sure all voices are heard in every meeting.

Research from Google’s Artistotle Project has found that conversational turn-taking is one of the key practices for creating psychological safety in a group. In order to ensures this happens in every meeting, literally assign someone to be the ambassador or advocate responsible for inviting voices into the circle. Rotate who on the team is playing this role.

Agree on how to bring up nonverbal cues.

The second key factor the Google study found for creating psychological safety is high ‘‘average social sensitivity’’ — skill at intuiting how others feel based on nonverbal cues. In order to facilitate paying attention to the group’s nonverbal communication, discuss and establish norms among the team about how to bring questions and concerns up as they arise.

With the proper context, you should be able to turn to someone and say, “I just noticed that you sighed. What’s going on for you? Are you feeling frustrated?”

Commit to checking assumptions instead of reacting to potentially triggering stimuli.

“On teams, the number one issue I see is communication,” Neogy says. “People don’t take the time to ask questions about what was just said. They make an assumption, and then they walk away. That assumption is 99 percent of the time incorrect.”

Read the full article about inclusive workplace practices by Conscious Company Media at Medium.