How to Have Inclusive Conversations at Work

Learn how inclusive conversations at work build empathy, trust, and allyship, reduce exclusion, and boost psychological safety, engagement, belonging, and business success.

Uncover the sources of fears that block inclusive conversations, choose courage over fear, and apply systems thinking to build trust, psychological safety, and collective learning.

Move through your fears by completing the handout-based exercise on worst-case outcomes in conversations about identity, then identify actions to reduce risk and foster inclusive dialogue.

Learn key language for inclusive conversations at work, exploring identity, diversity, inclusion, representation, intersectionality, belonging, equity, and how biases, power, and microaggressions shape workplace dialogue.

Practice exploring identities to build inter identity intelligence on your team. Learn about one another, find commonalities, and value differences through a guided conversation with mutual agreement.

Reflect on your identity and its impact on workplace conversations by completing the Loden's Diversity Wheel. Identify top aspects and draft statements to explore how identity shapes inclusive dialogue.

Assess your team's psychological safety using the checklist and reflect on who may not feel safe. Plan talking points to deepen safety, model vulnerability, and foster inclusive conversations.

Managers foster inclusive conversations to build psychological safety, trust, and belonging, using vulnerability and trust-building to guide dialogue and recognize power dynamics.

Practice empathy to foster inclusive work conversations, boosting collaboration, morale, and performance by gaining insight, understanding feelings, engaging with curiosity, and clearly communicating understanding.

Activate allyship through empathy in action by learning about colleagues' experiences, practicing micro-affirmations, and advocating for inclusive conversations that amplify underrepresented voices and build psychological safety.

Apply the Perl framework for self-regulation to transform biases, using pausing, empathizing, acknowledging biases, revising, and learning to foster inclusive conversations rooted in empathy and allyship.

Learn how to run inclusive, transparent conversations at work about mergers, acquisitions, bias, and interruptions, with practical steps, timelines, and leadership actions to address team experiences.

Build empathy and trust through inclusive one-on-one conversations with colleagues. Schedule regular check-ins, share experiences, and support each other across work and life.

Reduce proximity bias in hybrid and dispersed teams by ensuring equal opportunities, timely information, inclusive meeting times, and global policies that invite every region to contribute.

Pause to address harmful words, reset with clear norms and grounding rules, and use a parking lot for off-topic items to uphold equity and fairness.

Address harm in inclusive conversations caused by biases or microaggressions by honoring impact and assuming positive intent, calling people in, and using feedback to align words with actions, fostering healing.

Create your own pre thought scripts to course correct conversations, pause off topic moments, reset and refocus when harm occurs, and practice gentle apologies for inclusive work conversations.

Define three concrete actions you will take after this course to foster inclusive conversations, such as one-on-one check-ins, regular team discussions, or addressing biases.

Practice inclusive conversations at work to boost empathy, trust, engagement, and belonging. Learn to interrupt microaggressions with scripts from How to Be an Ally and continue learning about diverse colleagues.