Everyone has a role to play in building inclusion. When Rebekah Steele and I speak to audiences about our book INdivisible*, we notice how eager people are to discover what they can do personally to influence inclusion at work.

Responding to this, we ran a LinkedIn series last year on #inclusiveactions.

Each action was designed to further one of the 10 “Inclusion Enablers” we describe in the book. These are a core element of our whole-system approach to advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Here, I’ve brought all these actions together in one place to help you cultivate inclusion, taking account of the changing work environment that so many people are experiencing.

We suggest actions for leaders as well as steps that everyonecan take, at any level. These practical, everyday actions can help kickstart change as part of an organisation-wide strategy that we describe in the book.

1.  Enabling openness

Leaders: In meetings, ask “Are we open to hearing views and ideas that are different from the usual?”

Everyone: Engage with someone who is different from most people in your network. Listen to their perspective with a focus on understanding rather than judging.

2.  Enabling respect

Leaders: Assign someone at every meeting to check that each person has the opportunity to speak and to be heard respectfully. Rotate this role.

Everyone: At your next team meeting, suggest co-creating a team agreement as a consistent guide to respecting different perspectives and ways of working.

3.  Enabling trust

Leaders: Work with your team to determine ways to give them greater freedom in how they achieve their objectives in any work location.

Everyone: Invite a co-worker you don’t know well to give you honest feedback. Thank them and ask if they would like you to do the same for them, to build trust. Put their feedback to work.

4.  Enabling fairness

Leaders: Think about who is left out when people are chosen for “hot” projects. Challenge your own and colleagues’ blind spots. On future projects, include a range of different people who have not been picked before.

Everyone: Notice when the same people are routinely chosen for special opportunities and recommend someone good who has never been selected.

5.  Enabling transparency

Leaders: Make time to talk through your thinking behind a decision with the people affected.

Everyone: Start your next joint project by asking your colleagues how they work best in virtual and hybrid environments. Be transparent about your own preferences too.

6.    Enabling shared power

Leaders: Instead of stepping in straightaway with a solution, pause, hold the space, and invite others to share their ideas. Notice how a combined solution could be better than the one you thought of.

Everyone: Openly give credit to people who deserve it. Do this consistently.

7.  Enabling participation

Leaders: Invite different members of your team to crucial meetings. Coach and support their active participation, and make sure their voice is heard.

Everyone: Ask your manager to take you to a meeting where important decisions are made so you can better understand the organisation’s goals and contribute ideas. Suggest taking different colleagues each time.

8.  Enabling choice

Leaders: If you’re a leader, choose to share your personal story and invite others to do the same if they want to.

Everyone: Ask leaders in your organisation to share a story about a time when they chose to stop hiding an essential part of who they are at work, and what impact this had.

9.  Enabling support and commitment

Leaders: Ensure performance appraisals take account of how much individuals show commitment and support for colleagues, customers, and other stakeholders.

Everyone: When working on joint projects, check in regularly with everyone to make sure they are involved and comfortable with how things are progressing. Seek collective commitment to implement the best ideas for improvements.

10.  Enabling shared purpose

Leaders: Explain publicly and consistently how inclusion can improve the performance and sustainability of your business.

Everyone: Consult colleagues in other departments or business units to check that initiatives you are taking align with theirs and with the organisation’s goal to be more inclusive.

What next?

With each action you take, notice what difference it makes. This is an easy way to start measuring the impact of inclusion. Does it improve collaboration? Speaking up? Problem-solving? Decision-making? Motivation? Wellbeing? Creativity? Innovation? Share the results with colleagues and leaders.

We hope these actions inspire you. There are many more in the book. We also encourage you to work with your colleagues and teams to devise inclusive actions tailored for your organisation. We’d love to hear about them.

Consider setting up INdivisible Reading-for-Action Circles in your organisation to gain deep insights into how to build and sustain system-wide inclusion with everyone’s input. We can supply a guide to reading circles on request.

*INdivisible: Radically rethinking inclusion for sustainable business results, by Alison Maitland and Rebekah Steele