COURSE OVERVIEW

Many of the problems in workplaces, from lack of creativity to failure to use the spectrum of talent within an organisation, are at base communication failures. Prejudice and unconscious bias thrive wherever people do not feel able to have open and authentic conversations about difference, but can be rapidly overcome, when people are able to share and explore together their assumptions about each other.

What often makes things worse is that managers in organisations are so afraid of offending, or being accused of racism or sexism, that they hold back on robust feedback that would be valuable to the other person. This creates a self-fulfilling prophecy – the person performs less well than people the manager feels more comfortable with, who do get more honest feed. Diversity awareness training can help, but it has at best a patchy record of success in achieving significant change.

Diversity dialogue is the skill of engaging with difference and with people who are different. It is based on the principles of co-learning, co-creation and valuing diversity as a driver of performance by teams and organisations.

The one-day, intensive workshop develops the ability to change the conversations we have with ourselves, in ways that enable us to have more courageous, more honest and more effective conversations with others. It is not a substitute for diversity awareness, but can radically improve its effectiveness.

What research tells us about the benefits of more effective, more open conversations at work. We explore the gradual evolution of corporate policy from equal opportunities, through diversity management, to leveraging diversity and the practical benefits of this.

COURSE STRUCTURE

One-day intense immersion in the practicalities of holding empowering, learning conversations across the barriers of difference

The day is spent 50% working with concepts and 50% in detailed practice.

WHO IS THE COURSE FOR?

Anyone in a diverse working environment

BENEFITS:

Overcomes one of the biggest barriers to diversity and inclusion – the inability for people from different backgrounds to hold co-learning conversations

LEARNING:

For course participants:

• The skills to turn diversity from a source of conflict to a valuable creative resource
• A comprehensive toolkit to enable positive and value-creating conversations across the barriers of difference

For the company:

• An essential toolkit for building understanding and appreciation between people with different backgrounds and experience
• A pragmatic and more effective alternative to bias training

IS IT ALIGNED TO ACCREDITED BODIES?

All of CCMI’s products and services align to industry best practice and international standards from the EMCC and other major accrediting bodies.