On Monday, PNA hosted the first of a two-part virtual series titled Belonging and Beyond. This session focused on identifying barriers to creating cultures of belonging and strategies to overcome them. Even if you did not attend the first presentation, you may still register for the second session of Belonging and Beyond on Nov. 17.
Key takeaways from the first session include:
Barriers to creating cultures of belonging:
- Judging people who are different
- Limited time and deadlines (not enough time to get to know one another on a personal level)
- Do not know how to start
- People holding tight to old habits, old ideologies
- People want to come to work to WORK and do not see the importance of creating a culture of belonging
- Generation gaps
- Stereotypes, prejudice, bias and discrimination
Strategies for overcoming barriers to creating cultures of belonging:
- Take the Implicit Bias Test(s)
- Share research and statistics on the value of creating cultures of belonging
- Get to know the people in said group on a personal level. (Meals, social outings, creating geographic proximity)
- Level set expectations, establish ground rules, let everyone know that all voices in the room have the same weight/and mean it
- Assume positive intention
- Ask genuine questions of people with humble curiosity – and do not expect one person to represent an entire demographic – learn about individual experiences. For example, instead of asking “what is the history of that holiday?” ask “how does your family recognize that holiday?” to make it more personal.
- Expand personal social media feeds to include people from different walks of life (food interests, musicians, athletes, etc.). By keeping social media feeds limited to family and friends, echo chambers can be created that just resound similar ideas rather than welcoming new perspectives.
- Read stories – watch movies, etc. about people with different life experiences than your own
- Travel to different areas of town, the state, the world
- Eat out, try new foods and experiences