How can cultural and racial bias creep into our processes?
Process is supposed to be above such things right? Clean methodology and tools are meant to work together to create efficiency and order. The reality of course is much messier, process is intimately connected to people, culture, and beliefs.
So how does bias creep into our processes? Well, as the chief architects and designers of these systems – the answer is you and me.
Today in part one of a two part series I’ll cover three simple missteps that even the most well intentioned person can fall into. They’re not magical – in fact they will probably sound stupid-simple. But they can help you see into your blind-spots, advocate for inclusion, and enable you to head off the worst cases of biased process design.
Just a note – these examples are drawn from my own experience and thus are inherently limited, I’d love it if you would share some of your experiences in the comments so we can all improve together.
Meeting Times
Diversity starts with who is sitting around the table (virtually or otherwise). When you look around, do most of the people look and think like you? Who is missing that should be here? One simple way you may be discouraging participation is by when you schedule your meetings.
If you work in an international company you probably know the pain of coordinating a meeting across time zones. Getting your colleagues in California on a call at the same time as those in Dublin, or Benagluru is exhausting. It’s easy to go with a “majority rules” method where you book meetings to accommodate the most people. While efficient, you could be building blind spots into your design by virtue of who is not there.
You’ll need to compromise to include everyone, this may mean hosting two meetings, or alternating the meeting times. It can be tedious, but it is SO worth it. You will have better stakeholder engagement and support and you’ll get unique perspectives raised that you otherwise would have completely missed.
Metaphors and Idioms:
This is one I’m personally terrible at. When I conduct workshops or trainings I’m constantly expressing concepts as metaphors. Generally this helps me quickly condense abstract concepts, but when used without an awareness of your team’s backgrounds, it often creates barriers to understanding.
Ironically, what was intended to help communicate more clearly with people can often exclude whole groups from participating in an improvement conversation.
This is not to say that you can’t use rich language or examples, just that they should be used intentionally. When you execute a well-timed pop-culture reference, and notice some folks with blank faces, consider a more inclusive way to get your point across (also consider that you may not be as funny as you think).
This is a something I need constant reminding of, but it pays off. Not only will you create an inclusive environment, you’ll be able to communicate more clearly and tap the full potential of the group you’re working with.
Cultural Communication Styles:
Last on my very incomplete list – be aware of differences in cultural communication styles and learn how to bridge them. The challenge is often not “hearing what I say”, but “understanding what I mean”. Let me show you.
Colleague A: What did you think about my presentation at last week’s executive meeting?
Colleague B: *slow sigh* Well, it was good. I mean you might consider going into a bit less detail next time.
What Colleague A heard: It was pretty good.
What Colleague B meant: You went into way too much detail.
These types of misunderstandings occur hundreds of times a day in video conferences all around the world, you’ve probably participated in a few.
In process improvement clear communication is critical, and there are ABUNDANT opportunities to inadvertently exclude participants by being ignorant of how we express ourselves differently. To create an environment where everyone can freely contribute we need to understand some basics about how communication styles vary around the globe. Once you’re equipped with this super-power, you’ll be able to listen for what each other mean rather than just hearing what they say.
In my next post we’ll dig into some common ways I’ve seen process improvement used as a tool to interrupt bias before it starts!
If you have any ideas on how to create a more inclusive world through process, Bill and I would love to hear. Please leave a comment below or shoot us an email at processforthepeople@gmail.com
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