How To Be More Inclusive for Better Results

Joe Wynne is a versatile Project Manager experienced in delivering medium-scope projects in large organizations that improve workforce performance and business processes. He has a proven track record of delivering effective, technology-savvy solutions in a variety of industries and a unique combination of strengths in both process management and workforce management.

  Leadership   Organizational Culture   Talent Management  

With your projects getting larger and more complex, with more and more interdependencies and higher visibility, your project team must be working on all cylinders to achieve success. Even when your team is a diverse mix of personalities and backgrounds, every individual must be confident in their ability to do their job, to raise risks or issues, or to bring up uncomfortable topics that are key to success in complex projects.

You can get the diverse team of productive individuals you need by being an inclusive leader. Use the tips below to maximize your team’s engagement and productivity.

Set an inclusive tone at the beginning:

• In early meetings, make sure everyone knows that you are interested in their input, their expertise, their obstacles, their success.
• Start to get to know people as individuals, otherwise your assurances may appear to be inauthentic (just words). This does not have to be a time-consuming process. Just start with an initial conversation to ask about each individual as a person and take notes so that you can remember. Later, follow up on what they said.

It is initially difficult to make an inclusive connection with team members who have very different background from your own. But this should not remain a barrier. Build your knowledge and show that you are attentive to cultures of those you are working with by doing a little bit of …

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