Reflections & recap
Reflections
Thanks for participating in this self-guided experience, including Equal Reality’s Everyday Inclusion scenarios.
We hope it got you thinking and talking with your co-workers about what it means to be included and to feel a sense of belonging in your workplace.
Empathy is the ability to understand and share another person’s feelings and experiences.
It is emotionally “walking in another person’s shoes”, feeling what they feel, and seeing yourself and the world from their perspective.
You don’t have to agree with another person’s perspective or feelings to be empathetic toward them. It does mean that you’re willing and able to recognise, understand, and connect with the emotions they may be experiencing.
Let’s recap
Scene 1. An overhead conversation
When you were Tamara, you experienced and witnessed various subtle forms of exclusion.
For instance, you overheard a colleague talking about a “diversity hire” in another department.
Many people experience these sorts of subtle biases everyday because of one or more aspects of their identity. These behaviours are otherwise known as micro-aggressions.
Scene 2: The meeting
As Tamara, you experienced a conversation where your manager Victor singled you out to ask you to join the diversity council, and you heard a woman colleague get frustrated when a male colleague got acknowledged for something she had just said.
Where you experienced a meeting from Tamara’s point of view, and may have also experienced some of the feelings she might have experienced.
What the experience couldn’t fully convey, is Tamara’s personal motivations, intentions, past history and lived experiences.
All of which contribute to her unique response to a situation, which are important factors to consider when building empathy and compassion toward a person.
Scene 3: Becoming the manager
Becoming the manager brought another lens where you stepped into the shoes of Victor. Here you had the opportunity to interrupt the non-inclusive behaviour of your team, and guide the conversation to make the meeting more inclusive.
Reality check
In actual reality, you can’t always step into someone else’s shoes, and many times, you can’t even imagine what it might be like from their perspective.
What you can do is build empathy by:
- Reflecting inwards
- Remaining curious; ask genuine and appreciative questions
- Actively listen to and understand a person’s experience and perspective
Just as with the design of this learning experience, building an understanding requires a willingness and commitment to sit in the discomfort that comes with making and owning mistakes.
