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How equality and diversity training can shape the borderless workplace
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TMA World Viewpoint 36: How Equality And Diversity Training Can Shape The Borderless Workplace

Jan 23, 2015

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TMA World

This TMA World presentation explores how diversity and inclusion training has changed in recent times and provides advice for creating an inclusive workplace.

For more information on diversity and inclusion training and other skills you and your organization need to thrive in the borderless workplace, contact us today: [email protected]
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Page 1: TMA World Viewpoint 36: How Equality And Diversity Training Can Shape The Borderless Workplace

How equality and diversity training can shape the borderless workplace

Page 2: TMA World Viewpoint 36: How Equality And Diversity Training Can Shape The Borderless Workplace

© Transnational Management Associates Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

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Yad yad acarati srestas…

If you’re sitting in my class and these are the first words you hear from me, what will you do?

Will it grab your attention?

Will you think you’re on the wrong training programme or will it bring upon a shy smile or discomfort?

How equality & diversity training can shape the borderless workplace

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© Transnational Management Associates Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

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Well I’ve heard these plus other more challenging responses from my audience.

Of course, these words work well on a diversity programme.

It’s diversity.

It’s an ice breaker.

It’s expected.

How equality & diversity training can shape the borderless workplace

Page 4: TMA World Viewpoint 36: How Equality And Diversity Training Can Shape The Borderless Workplace

© Transnational Management Associates Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

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And by now you’re

thinking this is another

rant on diversity.

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Before you leave the blog (and

for those who have

decided to stay, thank you)

allow me to share a few

thoughts on how diversity

training has changed and

needs to change to

facilitate our new work

environment or what we

refer to at TMA World,

a borderless workplace.

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For them I used to ask,

‘do you schedule meetings on

Friday lunchtime?’

What’s wrong with

Friday lunch time?

I have noticed a big

change in the diversity

work I’ve delivered over

the last decade.

6

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For them I used to ask,

‘do you schedule meetings on

Friday lunchtime?’

What’s wrong with

Friday lunch time?

In 2003 my calendar was full,

delivering training on Religion

and Belief, an awareness of

faith in the workplace and

believe it or not, sharing with

people that we all have

different reference points and

different religious or spiritual

practices was a surprise for

some.

7

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For them I used to ask,

‘do you schedule meetings on

Friday lunchtime?’

What’s wrong with

Friday lunch time?

I observed that entering the

world of minority faiths

challenged the core of faith

itself. For others, though

Religion and Belief was

coming from an EU Directive

and with the fear of

discrimination and legal

battles, their corporate mind

didn’t perceive a natural

business case for looking at

Belief in the workplace.

8

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In 2005, colleagues and I were

delivering a huge diversity

initiative at one of the world’s

leading pharmas.

This was generic diversity – we’re

all different.

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The question that I used to love

debating with my pharma audience

was ‘there’s a room full of white,

British, male scientists – do I have

diversity?’

Yes of course I do! I had age,

geography, education,

communication styles, interest,

hobbies and the list could

continue.

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I’m glad we conveyed a strong

message of diversity as real and

unique as every individual in the

workplace.

‘But we all get on, so why are we

here?’

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I left them with hope that soon

their pharma site might just recruit

people different to them and that

they better keep notes from the

training close at hand.

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But then, one of my

favourite areas of work was

cultural diversity.

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In 2006 and later in 2010, I was

involved with a massive oil

company who were delivering a

multi-million dollar off-shoring

programme in Bangalore.

It involved hundreds of project

managers, business analysts and

three Indian vendors, delivering

the software needs of the

companies trading arm.

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This was a fun project – working

with India is! However, the culture

gap was big.

The simplistic project manager

approach of taking a four-stage

project management process from

Chicago to Bangalore and

expecting the same results was at

best naive.

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Consideration for style, approaches

to leadership and decision making

had nothing to do with the

technical work of software

development, but it impacted what

was delivered and most

importantly for Chicago, when it

was delivered.

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I couldn’t help but

patronise a room full of

project managers by asking

them to reflect on two

questions.

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The first, ‘what is your job title?’

‘Project Manager!’

Now, what is your job title when

you’re working offshore with India?

‘Project Manager?’

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Well no! I thought I was going to

revolutionise the world of

offshoring when I told them ‘You’re

offshore project managers.’ I

didn’t.

But I did spend day on cultural

awareness in hope of filling that

‘offshore’ gap.

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So why is reflection on these

experiences necessary?

Are the approaches to diversity

I’ve shared no longer relevant or

did we get in wrong?

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Well, we didn’t get it wrong.

We responded to the need of the

time and it was a good business

fit.

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However, what’s happened, and

rapidly I might add, is that all of

the above has converged into a

daily reality for thousands of

employees around the world.

Rarely do I find a novice to cross-

cultural working.

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I think we’ve gone beyond

awareness and appreciating

diversity as a good thing.

The juncture we’ve now arrived at

is living diversity.

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And the more and more the

workplace continues to change,

the more we have to live this

diversity.

We have to make it happen on

every conference call, in every

email and through all of our

deliverables.

Diversity training now has to be

more personalised.

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We can do this by

developing two areas:

1. Cooperation

2. Communication

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1. Cooperation

It’s more than just getting on.

It’s about peeling back all layers of assumptions and perceptions and working with the individual.

Let’s consider building relationships and getting to know team colleagues as an investment rather than a luxury.

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1. Cooperation

This is not just about introductions but about sharing insight on our preferences, styles, working patterns – even figuring out what things bother us in working life.

We can take it deeper with appreciating and recognizing the unique contributions and talents colleagues bring to the team.

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1. Cooperation

It’s about hitting the ground running with trust.

Given most of us in the borderless world don’t get to see each other face to face, transcending an e-mail address and diving deep into cooperation is paramount for high performance.

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2. Communication

One of John Maxwell’s recent books has a great title and I think it sums up the challenges of our borderless life: ‘Many communicate, very few connect.’

For those of us working remotely and in virtual teams we know that communication is a crucial thread weaving through and holding the team together.

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2. Communication

Connection is not just the phone line or the internet connection.

It’s the shared understanding we create between colleagues, keeping us on the same page, keeping roles well defined and finding time to invest in all the cooperation points shared above.

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2. Communication

When we consider the lack of non-verbal cues, communication asks of us to appreciate the use of language, accent, time zones and appropriate technology.

As members of diverse teams we just have to keep trying to connect.

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To conclude, the borderless

workplace is upon us all.

We no longer have to worry about

intrusions and stepping on toes if

we’re going to live in this

borderless world.

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We’re going to naturally get close

to colleagues, have better

understanding of each other and

the reward of that will be reflected

in the reality of our diverse world.

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Whatever action a leader

performs,

others emulate.

Whatever standards a leader

sets,

the world will pursue.

So back to my opening,

yad yad acarti.

This is Sanskrit and comes

from India’s spiritual text

called the Gita.

Let me leave you with

this:

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Webinar Twitter Blog Viewpoints and articles

Publications Written by Terence Brake, Director of Learning & Innovation at TMA World. Our new Borderless Working e-book series

About Us

Visit

www.tmaworld.com/insights

to discover the latest

thinking from our experts

on global, collaborative,

cross-cultural and virtual

working.

Page 36: TMA World Viewpoint 36: How Equality And Diversity Training Can Shape The Borderless Workplace

© Transnational Management Associates Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

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Above all we’d like to hear from you directly, so please don’t hesitate to send any comments, questions or feedback

to us at: [email protected]

Or visit our website: www.tmaworld.com

About Us

Visit

www.tmaworld.com/insights

to discover the latest

thinking from our experts

on global, collaborative,

cross-cultural and virtual

working.