Creating a Climate for Diversity: Tip #8 – Brown Bag It!

Facilitate a brown bag educational series. This lunchtime activity is a good way to facilitate social interaction across cultural differences, and to provide employees with a helpful learning experience. The participants bring their lunch and take part in an educational seminar of interest to the group. You can enhance the success of the series by identifying topics of interest in advance, and then identifying effective speakers to facilitate each topic. Here are some examples:

• Community, equity and diversity
• Marriage equality and the LGBT community
• Reducing stereotypes in the workplace
• The impact of hidden bias on organizational communication
• Understanding our differences
• Fighting ISMS: Moving from words to action
• The history of a particular cultural group in your area (e.g., Native Americans, Latinos)
• Gender equity in the workplace
• Why inclusion is good for business
• Improving workplace accessibility
• Managing communication style differences in the workplace

The key is to identify topics that will interest your employees and have a positive impact within the organization.

Next Post: October 7, 2013 – Creating a Climate for Diversity: Tip #9