TRAINING & FACILITATION

We have a strong platform of facilitation & training experience,

and can deliver your own internal workshops, provide meeting & event facilitation,

and/or offer our own custom-designed training solutions.

Some examples of training that we have designed are listed below.

THE BRAIN AND BIAS

Though we like to believe we are rational thinkers, nearly 90% of the time we’re actually relying on the automatic, subconscious system of the brain to make decisions. This automatic system evolved to ensure our survival; however, the world is vastly more complex today. The brain has to manage more than 11 million bits of information at any given moment, and shortcuts have evolved to accomplish this without using a lot of energy. In most cases it works, but in many other cases, errors in judgment (or ‘biases’) are made, which are not registered in the conscious mind. This may be in direct conflict with our intention to give people equal opportunities and make rational decisions rooted in inclusion. Having a grasp of how our brain processes information, human behavioral motivation factors, change techniques, and decision making are crucial steps for all organizations who want to become more inclusive. We explore unconscious bias through a lens with views on self, on others, on the organization, & on the business. This work is in partnership with Tinna C. Nielsen. Length 1 ½ – 4 hours, dependent upon design and format.

OUTSMART YOUR BRAIN: NUDGING FOR INCLUSIVE CULTURE

In terms of creating a diverse & inclusive culture, the unconscious brain is one of the biggest challenges for organizations & leaders in the 21^st century. This session introduces a key concept from Behavioral Economics, called Nudges, and we apply it as a method for furthering an Inclusive Culture. This is a topic of a recent book, the Inclusion Nudges Guidebook, authored by Lisa Kepinski & Tinna C. Nielsen. Inclusion Nudges are relatively soft, non-intrusive mental pushes that mitigate unconscious, automatic thinking, thus helping the brain make more objective decisions, & promote more inclusive behaviors—that will stick. We can all become “choice architects” to design Inclusion Nudges to reduce bias & ensure better decision making for inclusion & business performance. This work is in partnership with Tinna C. Nielsen. We offer this introductory workshop as a 1 ½ to 3-hours session, dependent upon design and format.

INCLUSION NUDGES LEARNING LAB

This interactive full-day learning lab is designed to help organisations move beyond awareness of unconscious bias. Awareness alone does not lead to cultural and behavioural change. To make it stick, a combined approach is needed on understanding, feeling, motivation, behaviours, and organizational processes. Inclusion Nudges are relatively soft, non-intrusive mental pushes that alter behaviours and help our brains make better decisions for a more inclusive organization. We employ a full learning process, where we work with your real organizational challenges for Inclusion and use the key design principles and process to teach participants how to become a Choice Architect for Inclusion. We work with the three types of Inclusion Nudges discussed in the Inclusion Nudges Guidebook. We teach you how to design your own bespoke Inclusion Nudges for your organization to foster behavioural change for a more inclusive environment. This work is in partnership with Tinna C. Nielsen.

OD SKILLS FOR CULTURE CHANGE AGENTS

Diversity and Inclusion is about culture change! It requires a multi-faceted range of tools to help drive culture change, including stakeholder management, influencing, organizational assessment, root cause identification, targeted interventions, conflict resolution, coaching, ability to work on both the short and long term, and so on. This workshop is delivered by highly experienced leaders of organizational development, change, and diversity & inclusion. It is one of the key foundational development experiences that should be in the portfolio for all D&I professionals, HR colleagues, & partners chartered with driving culture change for inclusion. Workshops Foundation course: 2 days, Advance course 2 days, delivered with 2 facilitators. Delivered in partnership with Elaine Yarbrough.

ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE HIGH PERFORMANCE

There has been much documentation on the connection between employee engagement and high performing teams that deliver results. When you look at many of the key tenants of employee engagement, these are directly tied to inclusion. We develop customized sessions for intact teams to focus on their unique aspects of diversity, style & work preferences, and ways to ensure that team is leveraging their strengths for results.

SURFACING & ADDRESSING KEY CAREER BARRIERS FOR WOMEN

Struggling with gaining a firm sense of what are some of the key talent pipeline issues for your female talents? Seen that the “fix the women” approach doesn’t work? Ready to be more reflective on key organizational issues blocking greater gender inclusion? In this session, we do a deep dive, using an interactive approach to aid organizations surfacing what they see as the key challenges, both on a personal and organizational level. We use a systems process for peeling through the layers to get to the root cause issue for more effective change. Workshop 1-2 days, with 1-2 facilitators.