Preparation

Session Overview

Overall Objectives

• Introduce the concept of Unconscious Bias in an easily understandable, memorable and relatable way.
• Deepen the understanding of Inclusion and Diversity to improve relationships, teamwork and
• Create self-awareness of each participant’s own unconscious bias and find some simple strategies that can make them more open and empathetic to others.

 

Process Highlights

• Circles Activity
  • Establishes the idea that we create relationships based on similarities and that can lead to excluding others that are not similar.
• In and Out of the Box – Model for Unconscious Bias and Improving Empathy and Inclusion
  • The Outside of the Box
    • You put the best of you on the outside for others to see. The outside represents our public face. These are the things that we feel proud of and feel happy and comfortable to share. A little like our personal brand.
    • You judge people by what you see, hear and observe.
  • Filters
    • We filter other people through our experiences.
    • We are unaware that we filter.
  • Preferences/Priorities
    • Preferences drive decision making.
    • Different people have different preferences.
    • We get in trouble when we assume that others have the same thinking about things as we do.
  • Pressure
    • Different people are under different kinds of pressure.
    • People usually don’t talk about their source of pressure.
    • To be empathetic, it is important to understand others’ pressure.
  • Wearing the box
    • Bring the impact of unconscious bias to life by wearing the box.
  • Small Group Activity – Vacation Advice
    • This activity will be run in three different rounds.
    • Each round will focus on the impact of our unconscious bias in understanding and communicating with others.
    • This exercise might need some modification for each location.

 

• Application
  • Think about an unconscious bias that you want to improve.
  • Which part of your box (your unconscious bias) could we change to improve it?
  • What best practices can we adopt to improve our inclusion and diversity?
  • Each participant makes a commitment to change a part of their thinking.

 

Key Anchors

In the program, we have a number of key learning points/anchors that we want to deliver. These are brought to life through debriefs of each part of the box and through the final debrief and Action Sheet.

 

• In and Out (Inclusion) vs. In or Out (Diversity)
  • What do we have in common?
  • How are we different?
  • How can we leverage our differences instead of seeing them as barriers?

 

• Let your light shine with Authenticity (The Outside)
  • The power of inclusion is that people are more willing and able to speak out and advocate for alternatives.
  • Don’t hold back your wisdom.
  • Put more of yourself on the outside of your box.

 

• Open filters with Curiosity (Filters).
  • Open your filters to better understand and learn from others.
  • How can I be more curious?

 

• To open your Mind; Judge Less (Preferences).
  • Be less judgemental.
  • What preferences can I adjust to make more space for the differences?

 

• Act with Empathy (Pressure).
  • Listen from the inside out.
    • Don’t judge based on what is on the outside.
    • Listen from the inside out to better understand others.
  • How can I better understand and be more inclusive?

 

 

 

Materials Required for the Session

 

For each session, you will need:

• Your personal box – pre-prepared for demonstration purposes.
• The PowerPoint^® slide deck for the session.
• A laptop computer.
• Projector and screen or TV display.
• Presenter remote control device or app.
• Whiteboard or flipchart.
• Watch or timer.
• Tables or worktops, with sufficient room to allow all participants to work on their Box.
• Stretch ropes (2) (for the vision/tension exercise).
• Connection cables to projector and music.
• Phone with a camera or digital camera. (To capture output.)
• Handheld microphones – if considered necessary. (2).
• Also share your personal WeChat, Facebook or e-mail address to enable participants to upload photos to you.

 

Consumables (initial stock):

• Participants’ name tags. (1 each) optional.
• Blank box – 1 per participants plus 1-2 spares.
• Marker pens – four or five sets of colours.
  • Preferably markers with chisel-tips, ‘Sharpie’ or other brands. (Do not use whiteboard markers or water-based pens as they will smudge.)
• Personal and Group Information/Decision Sheets for vacation Recommendation Activity. (Master for D&I cards.pptx and Master for D&I Decision Sheet.pptx)
• Baby Box handout and Worksheet (Baby D&I BOX Powerpoint.pptx)
• Blank Paper – One Ream of A4.
• Pens or pencils.
• Post-it Notes^® – 30 sets in different colours. (Optional but useful).

 

Room Setup

The ‘Thinking In and Out of the Box – Inclusion and Diversity’ workshop session may be conducted in any room configuration, indoors or outdoors. The following are the minimum requirements:

• Chairs for participants.
• Chair and table for the facilitator.
• Three or four flat-topped tables or worktops with enough space for participants to decorate their Box.
• An open space, preferably at the front of the training area in which to conduct the ropes exercise. (This could be outdoors.)
• Projector, screen or large format TVs for displaying slide deck.
• Sound system for music (optional).
• Place a blank box under each chair or on each desk.