The Leader’s Guide to Inclusivity-at-a-Distance

In the current crisis, companies that are able to respond to challenges and take advantage of opportunities in an innovative and agile way will gain a significant edge over the competition.

To do this, they have to effectively harness the discretionary effort and leverage the diversity of their people. Inclusive leadership is key to doing both. However many aspects of the current situation make inclusivity more challenging.

Challenges for Inclusivity under Crisis

Everybody is under stress

With everything that is going around, and enormous demands placed on them, individuals, especially leaders are under a lot of stress. People are more prone to be influenced by biases, less likely to involve others, and more likely to rely on heuristics and gut instinct, leading to sloppy decision making.

People are pulled in multiple directions

Whether it’s tending to young children or family members with special needs, limited mobility, unreliable/non-existent supply of essentials, or the absence of external care-givers, your employees are facing multiple, urgent and intense demands on their time. Your most committed and conscientious team members find themselves unable to cope, and are at risk of burnout. This also impacts your ability to connect and communicate with them, or even offer support.

Access to Technology

Whether it is appropriate hardware, unexpectedly high demands on limited connectivity options (internet, landlines, mobile networks), or even the ability to install/troubleshoot software with limited helpdesk support - all these come in the way of people doing their jobs effectively, communicating and collaborating seamlessly and contributing to their full capacity.

Lack of familiarity

In many businesses, a majority of employees have no experience of working remotely. Apart from competing demands and technology challenges, they find it difficult to adjust to the new work environment, lack of structure, numerous distractions, and the sense of isolation from colleagues. They struggle to perform at levels that they are normally used to, and may find it difficult to deliver on small and large commitments.

Vulnerability

Almost everyone is vulnerable in some way or another. On one end of the spectrum lie people who feel less confident and competent due to the unusual circumstances.  At the other end there will be people who might be at grave physical danger from rogue social elements due to their identity or group affiliation. In the broad middle are cases of people feeling psychologically unsafe, or even physically unwell.

How to practice Inclusivity-at-a-Distance

Acknowledge you are under stress

Accept that you are likely to make bad decisions that impact both relationships and business.

Be more accepting and compassionate. 

If you have a reputation of being a no-nonsense leader, deliberately break pattern and reveal a more compassionate side to your people. Provide support where you can, and be willing to lower expectations - especially where the impact is not significant.

Equip everyone 

Ensure every member of your team has, at least, the bare minimum they need to effectively work from home. 

A company that I consult, did not permit employees to work from home before the crisis. It is to their enormous credit that within hours of being asked by the government to send employees home, they were able to deploy laptops and desktops to hundreds of employees' homes across multiple locations. Another CEO, personally led the effort to install high speed internet in employees’ houses , where not available.

Provide training 

Train your people in the use of meeting and collaboration tools, and in how to run and participate in virtual meetings effectively. 

Set clear expectations on online availability, use of video, response times etc, depending on the unique needs and culture of each workgroup. However, be willing to accept that your expectations won't be met - due to any number of reasons which may or may not be under your people's control.

Be sensitive

Understand that people are vulnerable in various ways. 

In some cases, all that is needed is your understanding and compassion. In other cases, where vulnerability arises from bias or discriminatory behaviour from within the organisation, you need to exercise authority to stop such behaviour and ensure everybody feels psychologically safe. In even more dire circumstances, where people are at physical risk of being harmed by external elements, use your personal and organisation's influence to ensure their safety and well being.

The current crisis and the lockdown situation may be temporary; however in a world where black-swans seem to be emerging more frequently, it is essential that leaders equip themselves to engage and inspire under less than ideal circumstances. Learning to be more inclusive from a distance is a key element of getting there.