Duration: 3 hours
This interactive workshop enables the participants to understand ” unconscious bias” and the science behind it. They identify key mitigating strategies to disrupt bias thereby building a more diverse and inclusive workplace.
Duration: 3 hours
This interactive workshop enables the participants to understand ” unconscious bias” and the science behind it. They identify key mitigating strategies to disrupt bias thereby building a more diverse and inclusive workplace.
Duration: 3.5 hours
First responders are the first formal point of contact for the employees regarding workplace harassment complaints. This workshop is designed for existing and future first responders nominated by the organisation. Practical advice on understanding workplace harassment, how to receive complaints, role & responsibilities and solution-based approach on resolving the complaints form the base of this programme. All this is done by encouraging and imbibing the spirit of sensitivity, clarity, and empathy during the process.
Guidance towards positive solutions for all parties involved, within a psychologically safe environment
Bullying by a manager broadly comes in two forms:
Direct harassment tends to be easier to identify and label as inappropriate. Rudeness, shouting, getting physical: these are all aggressive behaviours that are clearly inappropriate in the workplace.
Abuse of managerial power can be much harder to pin down. When is a boss being “demanding but fair” vs “unreasonable”? We reward leaders that push their teams to high performance so how can you know when it crosses a line?
There are a few questions you can ask to get a feel for whether a team leader is engaged in bullying or is just setting demanding but reasonable targets:
How you choose to handle the situation depends on a few factors:
Send an email to yourself with details of the incident. Because an email is time-stamped, it shows the record was made close to the time of the incident when your memory was still fresh. It provides a “contemporaneous” record of the incident.
You have a number of options and strategies you can consider:
On the team’s group chat, someone shared a photo of a model.
“Nice!”
“Hot!”
“OK guys this is not the place.”
“Lighten up, Grace.”
The team leader only saw it a few hours later after the chat had died down. She ignored it. No biggie.Then it became a thing.
Every now and again, one of the guys would post a photo of a model. There would be some appreciation… and like clockwork Grace would say it was not cool. Soon the jokes were about Grace’s predictable reaction.
One day, Grace spoke to the team leader and said she was disappointed nothing had been done about the situation.
“The guys are just blowing off some steam. It’s no big deal. Boys will be boys. You shared a cat video recently. Same thing.”
Because we spend so much of our personal lives in virtual spaces like chat rooms and social media, it can be easy to bring the same casual attitudes to virtual workspaces.
Behaviour that would be considered unprofessional in our physical office space often happen in our “online offices” because of the habits we have developed when using chat with friends. Slang, shorthand, grammer, memes… there is a culture to personal chat spaces that regularly shows up when we work online.
But such chatter isn’t always appropriate.
The question to ask is: should anyone have to see or participate in such exchanges as part of their job?
Sure some people like it. But does everyone? Is it making some people uncomfortable?
Is the image or joke at the expense of some group or individual? Does it objectify people or assume some kind of stereotype or bias? Is it inclusive for everyone or could it be divisive? Could it be insensitive, insulting, or offensive to someone with different values or background?
The easiest way to manage such situations is to set clear guidelines on professional behaviour and make sure everyone understands that virtual workspaces are still part of the workplace.
For some organisations this is easy because digital communication is restricted to internal platforms.
However it is not always clearcut. If it’s not clear, ask these questions:
If you answer “Yes” to any of these questions, the virtual space may be considered the workplace.
Factors that do not matter:
So, for instance, the argument “This is my phone and my whatsapp account so I can say what I want” is not a valid reason to act unprofessionally in a whatsapp chat group with colleagues.
Likewise, say a chat was set up for a particular project and after the project was over, everyone stayed in and it became a social forum, it is *still* the workplace.
Humour absolutely is a great way to connect and reduce stress. But if the humour is at someone’s expense, then you have to ask who is bonding and who is being left out?
In the story above, the example given was one that, in some companies, would be considered sexual harassment. But sexual content is not the only kind of communication that crosses the line. Jokes and comments can also be disrespectful or exclude. If a comment touches on gender, race, body type, sexuality, religion, disability… or any other form of identity, there is a danger that it may be hurtful.
Immediately.
Communication in virtual spaces is fast. If someone says or shares something that is inappropriate, the team leader needs to call it out right away in order to signal to everyone on the chat what the standards are. Team members should also feel empowered to call out inappropriate behaviour.
Saying that, it is important to do so in a way that maintains respect for everyone, even the offending poster. The whole point is to ensure the space is one that is respectful.
“Hey all: a gentle reminder that this kind of [comment/post] is *not* acceptable.”
“I know this is meant as a joke but it is a misuse of this chat. Please don’t put me in the position of having to come down on you for not following policy on this.”
“This post is not appropriate here. Please delete it.”
It is better to draw the line sooner rather than later or some people will feel they are being treated unfairly.
“Why is my post not OK but his post was OK?”
“You’ve never said anything before so it seemed fine. So now you are just picking on me.”
Likewise if the boundaries are not set for the entire group (say because you only speak one on one to the offender) then others might think the behaviour is condoned.
Ideally, managers should set communication guidelines before there is an incident.
And as an ongoing practice, use nudges and clear communication to ensure everyone clearly understands what is acceptable.
What was wrong with what was shared? Should Grace accept that seeing these pictures is just part of her job?What would have been a better way for the team leader to handle the situation?
If Grace had never objected, would it have been OK to not intervene?
Given that the team leader is female and she was not upset by the images, does that mean it’s OK?
What could team members have done? What factors play a part in someone feeling empowered to speak up or not?
Does your organisation have policies that would apply to this situation?