When people talk about inclusiveness in the workplace, the concept is often closely associated with diversity—ensuring that a company is inclusive of its diverse workforce. Diversity means ensuring there are diverse people at the table, while inclusiveness means giving everyone at the table a chance to be heard. Typically, inclusiveness is associated with race, gender, and other forms of diversity, and although these elements of inclusiveness are important, they’re not the only ones.
Inclusion Means Everyone
Inclusiveness means that everyone at the table has a chance to be heard. This includes people from traditionally marginalized groups, as well as the soft-spoken people, regardless of their background. Sometimes these people get drowned out in meetings by the big personalities in the room. And as anyone who’s spent time in the corporate world can attest to, the loudest voice doesn’t necessarily have the best ideas.
As companies around the world have shifted to remote work in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, many meetings that were once in person have shifted to remote formats using videoconferencing tools like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and others; that shift may have boosted inclusiveness with regard to the quiet team members.
Remote Meetings May Boost Inclusiveness
As legal tech company Everlaw’s first general counsel, Shana Simmons has noticed an interesting phenomenon over the past year within her own team: soft-spoken team members who may not have felt comfortable contributing during in-person meetings are speaking up more. A fully remote environment has leveled the playing field, offering other ways for people to voice their thoughts.
With the return to the office on the horizon, Simmons has actionable advice for managers—starting with revamping the meeting structure—to ensure all voices are heard, not just those who are the loudest.
Different Dynamics, Same Goals
First, it’s important to acknowledge the very real differences between meetings held in person versus those held via videoconference. While this feature is focused on the potential benefit of virtual meetings, that’s not the entire picture. There are pros and cons to both remote work and in-person meetings, but the goals should essentially be the same: effective and efficient collaboration to address group goals and solve group problems.
“The one constant I strive for in any meeting is organic collaboration,” says Simmons. “Virtual meetings aren’t the demise of brainstorm sessions or whiteboarding but a viable and necessary way to bring teams together right now. I look at every meeting as an opportunity to create and collaborate and am happy to have experienced some magical moments with my team members. Keeping things conversational, as they are in-person, instead of transactional can help spur those moments that are easier to come by in-person.”
Platform Advantages of Virtual Conferencing Tools
In-person meetings have largely functioned the way group discussions have for thousands and thousands of years—the biggest personalities, the loudest voices, and those with the most clout dominate the discussions. But virtual conferencing tools have many features that help level the playing field and upend that traditional dynamic.
“Video conference meetings have given introverted employees the opportunity to make their voices heard in a way that in-person meetings didn’t always offer,” says Simmons. “People can type their thoughts in the Zoom or Google Meet chat, Slack or IM, versus feeling obligated to speak up during meetings. A chat function that helps meetings run smoothly and efficiently is the raise hand button.”
Simmons says that, as a New Yorker, she realized she had a tendency to speak over people in agreement and excitement. Now, she says, she is more deliberate when she speaks, opting to use the “raise hand” function. “Instead of being interrupted or talking over others, team members can take turns chiming in, leading to more fluid conversations and natural decision making,” she says.
And if all else fails, there’s also a mute function on most videoconferencing tools.
Effective, Platform-Neutral Strategies for Inclusiveness
Simmons and others noticed the benefits virtual meeting formats can provide to inclusion efforts, but it’s important to recognize that those benefits aren’t inextricably tied to those platforms. Leaders can take the lessons they’ve learned during the widespread shift to remote work and apply them to in-person meetings once teams are back in the office.
“Whether online or at in person meetings, it will be essential to continue making sure all voices are heard,” says Simmons. “As a leader, I make an effort to call on each employee to speak up so they know their input and everyone else’s is valued and encouraged. But I recognize that not everyone thrives in a group meeting setting—even a virtual one—so I provide my team members the space to voice their opinions, ideas and concerns during our weekly one-on-one check-ins, where I make sure they own the agenda. It is helpful that our CEO encourages all managers to be intentional about making our 1:1s about the employee.”
Importance of Empathy
Empathy, the ability to understand or share the feelings of another person, is a key element of inclusiveness that’s often overlooked. It’s frequently empathy that causes a meeting leader to recognize there are people who’d like to speak up but don’t feel comfortable butting into the conversation, for example. And beyond meetings, it’s a high-demand skill given the current state of affairs.
“It is important for leaders to lead with empathy, especially in a remote climate with so many things going on in so many fronts and impacting folks differently,” says Simmons. “Reach out to your team members, even if you’re not sure exactly what to say – offering a listening ear can often be the best form of support.”
There aren’t many managers who would say they favor videoconference meetings over in-person meetings, but that doesn’t mean there are no benefits to videoconferencing whatsoever. In fact, managers like Simmons have discovered that the virtual format, along with the various embedded features used for managing discussions, has allowed for greater inclusiveness for traditionally shy employees. The key goal for managers should be to take what worked from virtual meetings and apply it to in-person meetings once back in the office.
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