Design at its core is about the lived human experience. It’s creating products, services and experiences that identify unique problems and solving them with the most effective solutions for the widest range of people. But what if ‘the widest range of people’ isn’t wide enough?
Applying Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) principles to your design process and company culture allows you to extend your offerings and further meet the diverse needs of your employees and customers. Simply put, it considers the full range of human diversity with respect to ability, language, culture, gender, age and other forms of human differences.
Inclusive culture
As far as first steps go, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. A lot will depend on the culture you already have within your company and how diverse it already is.
But one thing is for sure: To successfully create broader offerings for the full range of human diversity, you need to guarantee an inclusive culture and give diverse talent a sense of belonging when they join the organisation.
‘Changing an organisation’s culture is one of the most difficult leadership challenges. That’s because an organisation’s culture comprises an interlocking set of goals, roles, processes, values, communications practices, attitudes and assumptions.’ - Steve Denning, Forbes contributor
An emphatic approach
Inclusion requires an extra touch of sensitivity because of the very nature of the topic. The approach needs to be:
Meaningful:
A organisational purpose that resonates with everyone and is clearly communicated.
Comprehensible:
People are prepared to change if they understand the necessity of change and their contribution to it.
Manageable:
Measure effort according to the resources to achieve sustainable results in the long term.
Inclusivity as a methodology
As an important part of our mission, we want to help our clients to embed inclusive practices throughout their organisation. The aim is to equip employees, managers, and leaders with the skills, mindset, and materials to make inclusion a fundamental way of working that reflects in their products, services, and bottom line.
We work with DEI by Understanding the purpose of your organisation and building a future vision with you. We set up a solid and shared understanding of Awareness on DEI, define a path, and prioritise the Actions that will make you achieve your vision.
The awareness program at a glance:
Our unconscious biases play first every time we make a decision, and in every decision-making moment, we have the chance to include or exclude someone. That’s why one of the most challenging parts of inclusivity is Awareness. With the 4 modules program, we increase knowledge on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the broadest sense, and develop awareness to counter the biases that live within all of us to help you make more inclusive and equitable decisions:
Starting with DEI
Cover the basic concepts in module 1. Learn about diversity, equity, inclusion definitions to complex concepts as intersectionality, microaggression and stereotypes.
Looking inwards
Look inwards in module 2 by learning about unconscious biases and how to counter them. Plus, approaching our cultural lens by reflecting on ethnocentric and ethnorelative mindsets.
Looking outwards
After module 2, we’re ready to look outwards in module 3. The psychology of our social identity, the intersection of power and privilege explained, complemented with other key definitions as social justice, oppression or meritocracy.
Skills & best practices
Finally, equip ourselves with skills and tools to address DEI in our work routine and life in module 4. Put in practice skills for inclusive conversations, work across cultures, and take action through allyship and upstander culture.
If you’re curious about how to apply a DEI lens to your processes and company culture, drop us a line. We’d love to talk.
