First realize that no two people are the same and hence the same techniques will not work on everybody the same way. There are some steps that I prioritize diversity and inclusiveness
1. Meetings : When I participate or own meetings with a mix of in-person and remote attendees, i ensure that the remote attendees have fair opportunities to participate. Conversations in the room are impossible to avoid but I pull in the people in the video conference and ask them for their opinion or call on specific people since they have expertise.
2. Participation : There are always people who tend to be silent even if they are experts in the field. I identify and work with them 1:1 and let them know how valuable their more recent interaction was and that I would like to call on them initially in low pressure situations and cultivate their habit of participating. For example I had a recently promoted Senior Engineer who start attending my leadership meetings. He however remained silent for most of the meeting which was dominated by well established SDMs and Senior Engineers. In my next 1:1 I spoke to him about how he had earned a place in the room and how his insights have helped in meetings and told them that I would like to call on them more.
3. Cultural : There are people who need specific considerations, such as people who need standing desks, additional time off on Fridays for prayers or some physical disabilities. I listen to their needs and only asking for information if they are willing to provide it and give them the flexibility as long as it does not affect the rest of the team. For example, I organized a weekly leadership meeting on fridays after lunch as a low pressure meeting to review weekly progress, brainstorm new ideas, and identify opportunities. One of my managers, indicated that he would need to miss 30 min of the meeting every week due to prayers. I subsequently discussed with the team to move the meeting prior to lunch without indicating specifics of why I wanted to, thus preserving confidentiality.
4. Opportunities with leadership : While some people naturally tend to have an audience with leadership, I identify opportunities to provide people a chance to present or speak to senior leaders. I talk to them about their strengths and why they would be good at presenting a specific opportunity and guide them through it
5. Document reviews : Document reviews are a great opportunity to get people involved and any presentation or document that the team writes, I ensure that all relevant people get to review and comment on it. If I identify somebody being silent, I reach out during my 1:1 to help them participate
6. Generating Ideas : Ideas come from all sorts of people and taking them out of their normal roles and responsibilities helps them to come out of their shell. I have organized hackathons about twice a year where I partner with a peer organization and encourage both organizations to work together to come up with innovative ideas outside of their normal roles.
