I doubt your workplace is different than most others: there is more to do in less time, and the work to be done seems more complicated. The typical work environment is stressed and there's no time for wasting time. One best practice to reduce time wasters is to create a shared understanding of how you and others will work together.

This best practice, also known as operating agreements or norms, is so basic that it is often seen as a time waster instead of a time saver. Yet agreements that are understood and supported help teams to produce effective individual, team and organization goals. They also help create an ease of working together that speeds up the process without compromising the quality of the outcome or the human interaction that produces it.   

Agreements often cover how the team will communicate and offer feedback; the team's purpose, goals and joint accountabilities; and how members will engage in conflict.    

In White Men as Full Diversity Partners Learning Labs, agreements created by participants serve to guide them as they engage in complex work that attempts to span difference, such as mindsets, experience, functional knowledge, age, gender and culture.  

Yes, you've probably heard and read all of this before. Yet ask yourself:

• If you have operating agreements in place, do you remember them? Do your team members remember them?
• Do you review the agreements periodically with team members to clarify meaning and make needed changes as your team learns and evolves?
• If a project is late or over budget, or if the team is in conflict mode, have you checked on how agreements support accountability and goal attainment?
• What agreements would make the environment more supportive, collaborative and effective?  
• What agreements would promote ease and speed? 

If your team doesn't have shared agreements and you have attended a White Men as Diversity Partners Learning Lab, you can start with the agreements used in the Lab and found in your workbook. Then ask your teammates to modify these agreements to support their specific environment or ask them to create their own agreements. Another valuable resource from your Learning Lab experience is the WMFDP partnership framework. It is included in each of the WMFDP Field Guides used in the White Men and Allies and the Women of Different Tribes Caucus. It is also in the Lab workbooks. 

Reviewing your existing operating agreements (or creating new ones) can take as little as 30 minutes and the dialogue that takes place is as important as the actual agreements. It is the start of creating shared understanding, accountability and - with practice - ease and speed.

Bill Proudman and Joan Buccigrossi, Director of Inclusion and Engagement for Rockwell Automation, will co-present What Happens When White Male Leaders Get Truly Engaged: A Rockwell Automation Story at the SHRM Diversity & Inclusion Conference October 24 - 26 in Washington DC.  Please join Bill and Joan for the session on October 24.  

If you're attending the conference and would like to meet with Bill, email us and we'll set a time and place.  

"For those who believe, no proof is necessary.  

For those who don't believe, no proof is possible."

Frank McCloskey

This quote from American economist and engineer Stuart Chase has special meaning regarding the diversity and inclusion "business case."

In today's demographically changing world, executives and management teams cannot authentically lead a D&I business case unless there is general understanding, ownership and commitment to its importance. Likewise, given the complexities and management and culture change process, a critical mass of followers is not possible unless an organization's leadership brand is grounded in the values of fairness, respect, trust, equity, and inclusion. Total commitment to these values becomes paramount when management and organizational culture meet human dimensions of diversity they are not comfortable with, due to an absence of relationship and experience.

Reaching this level of management practice is not found within the pages of an impersonal, numerically-driven business case on the demographic shifts occurring in the workplace, customer base and community. Rather, motivation will only come from the ethical and moral obligation of leaders and managers to personally treat all employees with respect and fairness. Why is a business justification necessary to create work environments built on trust, equity and inclusion? This outcome should already be a leadership requirement. To read more, download the full article.

This article was written by Frank McCloskey, retired Vice President of Diversity for Georgia Power, and a member of the INSIGHT Into Diversity Editorial Board.  Frank is a former client and long-time colleague and friend of White Men as Full Diversity Partners.  It is reprinted with permission from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine.