Why inclusive facilitation matters

• The problem: Non-inclusive facilitation creates psychologically unsafe environments, negatively impacting wellbeing, productivity and innovation.
• Why it matters: In doing so, it reinforces structural power dynamics of oppression in the workplace.
• The solution: With a bit of self-reflection, anyone can become an inclusive facilitator.

Putting policy into practice

“ Diversity is what you see, inclusion is what you do.”

Paolo Gaudiano

Creating inclusive workplace policies is one thing. Putting them into practice each day is another.

What does inclusivity mean to you?

But before we go into greater detail, it's worth spending a moment defining what we mean when we speak about inclusivity and diversity. It's common to conflate inclusivity with diversity. That doesn’t mean they’re not related: more inclusive environments are often more diverse. However, diverse environments aren’t always more inclusive.

We all have different, multiple identities. Aspects of our identities may be associated with power and privilege or with things that marginalise us. Many of us will have a mixture of both. Some of these factors may be obvious, such as the colour of your skin, and others may not be visible, such as your mental health.

When we think about inclusivity, we must consider all these identities and how they might interact. We refer to this as intersectionality. It can be difficult for us to recognise how different parts of someone’s identity may affect how included they feel, particularly if it’s something that we have not experienced ourselves.

The first step to inclusive facilitation is self-reflection. We think of facilitation as an outward behaviour. However, the most important work happens inwardly. A good facilitator needs to recognise their positionality — the social and political factors that create your identity, how they interact, and how they may position you in relation to others. What aspects of your identity give you power and privilege, and which don’t? How do they impact the way you see the world and treat other people? If this kind of reflection is new to you or you’re unsure, Figure 1 may help you to think about these ideas.

Figure 1: Web of oppression/Wheel of power and privilege. (Adapted from: Vanderwoerd, 2016; Duckworth, 2020 and reproduced from Timmo, D, 2022)

This process of self-reflection and awareness of your position with structural, situational, and power dynamics is ongoing. It will shift as your level of awareness increases and with every session you facilitate. By actively deconstructing systematic power dynamics, we have the opportunity to create spaces that are truly safe and inclusive for all.

What does inclusivity mean to others?

Sometimes, how to make a space inclusive is clear—for example, adjustments to a physical space to allow for better access. However, the adjustments needed to make them feel comfortable may not be as obvious for many people. They may not know how to ask for them either, particularly if they have become used to being marginalised in public and work spaces.

15% of the world’s population has a disability. 70-80% of those people have a disability you cannot see.

There are a few ways to make facilitation more inclusive. However, the key to this process is to remain alert for the things you are not aware of. For example, try sending a simple online form to participants before the event so that they can express any access needs — or anything else — that would help them feel more comfortable during the session.

Recommendation 1: Creating the space

When you start the meeting and introduce yourself, it's important to make your positionality clear. This sets a tone of understanding for the group by recognising power dynamics and awareness of different privilege levels.

Once you’ve made this clear, it's time to clarify other things about the space. It’s important to outline the aim of the meeting, the agenda and the timings. And to stick to them. Some people may feel more comfortable when they can anticipate what will happen and plan for breaks, for example. Adhering to your agenda will also enhance trust in your ability to hold the space and maintain clear boundaries.

It’s also important for boundaries to be set around engagement between participants. Suppose the time is available (for example, for a whole or multi-day event). In that case, creating a set of ‘house rules’ as a collaborative exercise with session participants can be useful. However, sending suggested boundaries to people beforehand can be more efficient for shorter or one-off events. Then, at the beginning of the session, remind people of these agreements and the importance of sticking to them for everyone’s safety.

Inclusive boundary setting may include:

• Being aware of taking up space. Encouraging people to be mindful of how long they speak for and conscious of making space for others.
• People having the freedom to get up and move, or use the bathroom, whenever they wish to. For online events, this may mean people have the freedom to turn their cameras off if they need to.
• Being mindful about examples that are used and avoiding material that may be triggering for some people. Provide trigger warnings or warn about sensitive topics where appropriate.
• The expression of any views or comments that would lead to people being ejected from the session.

Recommendation 2: Mind your language

As the facilitator, you’ll be modelling the kind of language to be used in the session. Make sure the language that you model is inclusive and opinions are expressed in the form of ‘I’ statements. For example, avoid using gendered statements or expressions that are related to race or ableism. If you slip up on your language, make sure you acknowledge the mistake, apologise, and make clear you understand that this may have been offensive to some people.

Recommendation 3: Icebreakers and introductions

Icebreakers can be great for people to feel comfortable, but they can also be alienating for others. We recommend that icebreakers are optional for anyone who doesn’t want to participate.

Introductions are important. However, it’s also important that people are free to introduce themselves in a way that is right for them. It’s good practice to model a suggested introduction style but make it clear that participants can tailor it as they choose.

For in-person events, we’d recommend name tags where people can write their chosen pronouns; for online events, that their pronouns are on their profile. The important thing is for everyone to do it so no one feels singled out, which helps to remove the possibility of any participants being misgendered.

Recommendation 4: Inclusive participation

By making spaces as safe for diverse audiences as possible, we hope to encourage as many people as possible to participate.

Everyone likes to participate in different ways, and some people feel more comfortable with public participation than others. What’s important when working with diverse groups is that the people who feel most comfortable don’t end up dominating the space.

One benefit of online facilitating sessions is the many options for anonymous participation: participants can directly message the facilitator privately, and there are also many freely available platforms (such as Jamboard) where people can anonymously contribute ideas and opinions.

In-person events can make it more difficult for people who don’t feel comfortable speaking in public spaces to make themselves heard. It can be helpful to have a buddy system so that participants can use their buddy as their spokesperson. You may also wish to have a box or board where people can post anonymous notes. This may mean that participants don’t have their opinions heard at the moment or that they are viewed as less important. Notes should be reviewed at regular intervals to be included in discussions to ensure equal ‘air time’ is given to those less confident in expressing their views.

Recommendation 5: Inclusive consultation

When trying to improve inclusivity in the workplace, consulting people from marginalised groups who may be the least likely to be included is useful. Many of these people may have experienced harassment or discrimination at work, so it is important to consider how they are run. Groups where there may be existing distrust in the organisation or that are likely to uncover emotive topics are best run by an expert facilitator.

Recommendation 6: Continuous improvement

Anonymous channels for post-session feedback are essential to becoming an inclusive facilitator. It’s important to have an open and flexible approach so that learning can take place continually.

Conclusion

This article aims to help you start thinking about making sessions more inclusive by offering a few tips and ideas. However, the first and most important step is your own self-reflection and awareness. After that, other things will fall naturally into place.