Effective Inclusive Teamwork

Highlighting the Intersection between Diversity and Communication

Amy Locklin

There’s a contemporary adage that what we don’t see in our conscious view can control us in unconscious ways; and the values and patterns of teamwork are no exception. Remembering that a winning idea from any member is a winning idea for the team can help reduce unhealthy competition, for example. Other solutions to common problems—favoritism, reflexively saying no, and shutting down unwelcome discussion, including about conflict of interest—follow.

Strategies

We should as a rule treat every team member’s ideas with an equal level of detached curiosity and optimism, as opposed to praising some more than others. Try habitually to:

·      Give everybody equal benefit of the doubt.

If you believe that somebody probably knows what they’re talking about, you will more quickly understand their message. In contrast, if you think that somebody doesn’t know what they’re talking about, you may waste valuable time challenging their ideas and asking for explanations, which may discourage them.

·     Give everybody equal credit for the level of their contribution.

If we are prone to feeling uncomfortable giving women credit, and they are uncomfortable claiming it, then we will probably sanction them when credit to women is implied, requested or given. Furthermore, everyone should get the same salary based on performance and seniority.

·      Remember that people aren’t their ideas.

Discussing ideas from all angles, including challenging them, is not the same as challenging the people who came up with the ideas in the first place. This is a general rule, unless there’s a pattern of challenging a particular person’s ideas without listening to them sufficiently first, which should be avoided.

·      Get in the habit of playing the believing game with everybody, before playing the doubting game.

It should be no surprise that we tend to believe some groups of people and not others as the result primarily of enculturation and historical norms.

·      Openly acknowledge conflict of interest.

This is where our own interests may conflict with the interests of the organization or decision-making process. It’s essential to highlight the importance of putting the organization before the individual. Team members should be less focused on professional and financial benefits for themselves, their networks and their causes, and more focused on building up the reputation and financial stability of the project or organization, with a view to long-term sustainability, if applicable.

Underlying Principles

In the professional development books Dare to Lead by Brené Brown and What Got you Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith, business leaders are advised on best approaches to management and teamwork.

Multiple sources including Brown’s and Goldsmith’s describe the toxic problem of favoritism that can undermine good working relationships. We don’t need to psychoanalyze all the sources, but these can stem from social enculturation as well as personality and social lives, such as being friends with team members.

Humans, in addition to being inclined toward favorites, also see the world through a lens of self-interest. When we try to persuade others with different views, for example, we are most effective if we show how our ideas benefit them in the context of their values. This bias of “What’s in it for me and my causes?” can manifest in conscious and unconscious ways.

Lastly, we tend to say “No” to certain groups and individuals and “Yes” to others automatically, on reflex. This social programming can lead to larger problems, including getting into situations that may not be best for us, and not fully hearing ideas that may benefit us.

In How Women Rise, authors Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith describe another common negative phenomenon, which is called “speaking while female.” This occurs when a woman shares her idea and nobody hears it, until later when somebody else states her idea as their own. (Historically, we’ve been programmed not to like women having ideas, leadership and power; and, as noted above, we’re uncomfortable giving them credit.)

A related phenomenon is “blaming the female messenger,” when a woman shares unwelcome ideas, or states facts or a version of the truth that the audience doesn’t want to hear. The reflexive negative response can manifest in heightened and disproportional aggressive reactions silencing women and putting them in their place, and should, obviously, be avoided; as should blaming the messenger in general, no matter what their traditional hierarchical role in society.