Amid this pandemic, as you lead your organization and manage your teams virtually there are so many factors that can disrupt your ability to maintain an inclusive work culture and achieve company results. As a leader you can do everything, just not all at the same time, so make sure your first step in leading is to take care of yourself. Give yourself a break. Recognize that life’s disruptions happen in the middle of the best-laid plans. You cannot lead effectively when you are too stressed to focus.

Once you have created a personal daily routine that allows for self-care, then you can focus on team productivity. Social isolation provides a great opportunity for you to demonstrate your ability to be inclusive. Diversity and inclusion are not just a “nice to have” when business is good. It is a must-have during turbulent times in order to thrive, not just survive. It is important because as you create a new normal for your organization, you will want your best talent to stay with you. The best talent comes in all types of human packages. As you lead virtual meetings, you have an opportunity to focus on individuals and performance without as many distracting biases of appearance, age, gender, ethnicity, etc. that creep into in-person daily interactions. Even though you may be conducting video-based meetings, when the focus is on results and meetings are time-specific, you can engage team members with the intention of inclusion to obtain the best ideas, regardless of who delivers them. Leading this way takes effort before during and after your meeting, so it is important that you learn the etiquette of leading virtual meetings that generate the best ideas from the entire team.

Here are a few inclusion techniques to engage your team.

• Before the team meeting, reach out to individuals, especially those who are more introverted, to let them know you want their ideas and you will call on them. This allows them time to think about their responses, so they are not caught off guard.

• Before the meeting, talk to those who tend to speak up all the time and encourage them to allow time for others to share. Often talkers are not aware of how much their constant chatter shuts down other team members.

• Provide an agenda with estimated times for each segment of the meeting. This shows you respect your team’s time, as you realize many are managing homeschooling, other adults in the household who are trying to work, and possible home care of elders.

• Allow a few minutes at the beginning of the meeting, for folks to share what is going on in their lives. Do not pretend that social isolation is normal. Celebrate good news and show compassion for challenges. Be willing to share your successes and challenges too. Effective leaders show some vulnerability so their team can see them as human.

• During the meeting provide a protocol. Ask people to raise their hand before speaking, so you can see and call on them to avoid having people talk over each other.

• Do not share your idea first. Ask questions for input. When the boss shares first, it can shut down ideas that could have been better. Team members are reluctant to share their thoughts if their idea does not support the boss’s idea.

• Call on each member. Encourage inclusion by affirming answers and asking for more information, instead of discounting contributions.

• Be aware of your body language - no looking at your clock or watch when people are talking. Look into the camera, not the computer screen when you are talking, so the team can connect with you.

• At the end of each meeting, make time to discuss the process of the meeting. Ask, “How did this go? What can we do better?” Then listen without “yea, but’s.”

• When your virtual meetings require large groups to be on the call, use all the interactive tools of the platform. Help people learn how to use the chatbox, the Q&A function, share screens, use polls, use the gallery view, whiteboards, and so on. It is best to have someone who knows the technology to serve as your producer so you can focus on the meeting itself.

• After the meeting, follow up by email, the phone, or video with each individual as appropriate to thank them for their contributions.

• Separately schedule time to talk one-on-one with each team member. Discuss business and learn about their personal aspirations. This is a time to show interest in them as a person not just a contributor to the company’s objectives.

• Lastly, do not send emails late at night. Even if you tell your team you do not expect them to respond, they will feel compelled to do so. No late emails show respect for their boundaries and give them time for self-care.

Over the years, I have asked hundreds of my clients and audience members the following:

Think of a leader in your life who really motivated you to be the best you could be. What attributes describe her? What characteristics did he have that worked for you? Here is a sampling of the most frequent answers.

My best leader:
• Was fair and respectful toward others
• Had high personal standards
• Believed in my abilities and potential
• Helped me believe in myself
• Encouraged and stretched me
• Led by example
• Mentored and coached me
• Asked for and appreciated different points of view
• Listened
• Criticized objectively
• Had integrity
• Was honorable
• Helped me solve my own problems
• Had a vision
• Created a trusting environment; I felt safe to be me

The most effective leaders demonstrate an ability to be inclusive in many ways. The key challenge is to practice these behaviors with all contributors, rather than only those with whom you are most comfortable.

You may have noticed that nowhere have I mentioned taking actions based on ethnicity, gender, disability, age, and the like. Effective leaders realize that everyone in the organization contributes to its diversity. Diversity is simply who is on the team- not just who the underrepresented groups are. Inclusion is who gets to play. The more you connect with all types of individuals, the more you will create an environment that inspires them to perform at their highest level, regardless of their packaging. The organization and you benefit from the diversity of thought that leads to better decisions and more creative innovations. Do diversity and inclusion matter? Successful leaders know their organization cannot achieve peak performance without it.
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Lenora Billings-Harris, CSP, CPAE is an internationally recognized hall of fame speaker, inclusion innovator, and author with more than thirty years of experience in both the public and private sectors. Lenora has developed a unique way of presenting sensitive topics in a content-rich, fun-filled, yet thought-provoking way.