Do you hear all the voices in your team?
Incorporating diverse perspectives has been shown to lead to better decisions. IP Inclusive shares guidance on structuring meetings for maximum inclusion.
Incorporating diverse perspectives is widely acknowledged as essential when making important decisions. Research by McKinsey shows that companies with a diverse board of directors have a 39% greater likelihood of financial outperformance than peer companies with less diverse boards.
It is, therefore, good business practice to ensure you hear from every member of your team during important meetings. It is also good practice from a well-being standpoint; team members should feel comfortable making contributions that are heard and valued.
But we’ve all been in meetings where some voices dominate while others go unheard. How can we create an environment where everyone feels comfortable taking an active part, thereby unlocking the maximum potential for successful decision-making?
A recent webinar from IP Inclusive, delivered by Stella Chandler of Focal Point Training and Consultancy, explored a technique for structuring meetings to maximise inclusion, encourage participation, and minimise the friction that obstructs open idea-sharing.
Consciously thinking differently
The first step to inclusive decision-making is acknowledging that people think differently. Personality, neurodivergence, seniority, and previous experience all influence how individuals think and how comfortable they are contributing during meetings.
Stella explained that most of us have one or two dominant ways of thinking, and we tend to apply only these lenses when making decisions. However, decisions made this way don’t consider all the angles; a risk-taker might make a better decision if they had access to the perspective of someone more cautious.
By deliberately encouraging everyone in a meeting to view the challenge through lenses outside their dominant way of thinking, voices with different perspectives can be heard.
Edward De Bono’s “Six Hats” approach
Maltese doctor Edward de Bono coined the term “lateral thinking” and devised a “Six Thinking Hats” approach to meetings, in which participants consider the challenge at hand through a specific lens, one at a time.
Important elements of a successful “six hats” meeting are:
- Sharing the purpose of the meeting and timings in advance.
- Introducing it as a brainstorming meeting where there are no wrong answers and no need to justify ideas – there should be no assessment or critique at this stage.
- Capturing all ideas immediately and ensuring they accurately reflect what the contributor said.
- Having a strong moderator who is alert to non-verbal cues and inputs and keeps the discussion on track.
Meeting participants are asked to consider the challenge through the following lenses or “hats”:
Blue Hat: The plan
This hat clarifies the purpose of the discussion, the process to be followed, ground rules, timing, and next steps.
A key question to ask to facilitate this stage is: What do we need to have clarity on this process?
Red Hat: Emotions
Stella recommends tackling this hat early in the meeting to get feelings out in the open. It allows people to express their instincts and gut feelings without having to explain or justify them. It validates emotions without judging them to be right or wrong.
Key question: How do you feel about this right now?
Yellow Hat: Benefits and positives
Ask all participants to think of at least one benefit of the challenge or situation. This helps more pessimistic characters to look for positives they might not immediately see.
Key question: What is one benefit you can think of?
Black Hat: Negatives
Yellow-hat-dominant thinkers can struggle to identify downsides, but asking them to actively consider possible negatives together is enormously valuable. Risk-spotting is also a common trait in neurodivergent thinkers, and this approach offers an opportunity to share concerns without the fear of being labelled a negative person.
Key question: What is one risk that we should factor in?
White Hat: Information
Next, participants are asked to identify what information is needed to make a good decision. This helps more analytical and detail-oriented thinkers feel validated. This section can be flagged in advance of the meeting to allow those who prefer to plan an opportunity to gather information relevant to the challenge.
Key question: What information would make you more confident in making a decision?
Green Hat: Ideas
This is where participants are encouraged to think laterally and come up with creative ideas. Participants should be encouraged to build on others’ ideas and take them in different directions.
Tackling this last means most types of thinkers have had a chance to think in their comfort zones and contribute, which prepares them to confidently offer their ideas.
Question: What is another way we could approach this?
Maximising inclusion
Adopting the six hats approach to meetings helps create psychological safety for different types of thinkers. It gives everyone a chance to contribute via the lenses they feel comfortable with, while also stretching them to think from alternative perspectives. In doing so, the risk of blind spots is reduced, and creativity is separated from risk analysis, making for better and more inclusive decisions.
Watch the on-demand webinar for more insight and tips on running a Six Hats meeting.