Learn How to Constructively Talk Through Team Differences

Better Together Implicit Bias Training

Implicit bias is complicated. Our biases are built-in from a very early age, and can be entirely at odds with all of our conscious values. They happen underneath the surface of all of the decisions we make, and even if they aren’t driving us to make the wrong choices, they can cause us to hesitate – to avoid open communication, and to keep people from bringing their best to their work.

Fortunately, science shows us that implicit bias can be interrupted, overcome and if we’re motivated enough completely rebuilt. The first step in the process is understanding of exactly what implicit bias is (and what it isn’t) and how we can overcome its many and complex costs.

  • Bias Awareness

  • Decoding Our Own Biases

  • The Science of Debiasing

  • Rolling Out ‘Better Together’ Initiatives at Your Company

Bias Awareness

Before we can start to untangle the complicated set of associations and connections in our brains that make up our implicit biases, we need to understand what, exactly, an implicit bias is. We talk through the science of why we associate concepts the way we do, and how to recognize it when it’s happening. Once we understand what implicit bias means, it’s also important to understand what it costs us all, every day and what the benefits are of bringing lots of different perspectives together to solve our team problems.

Some topics covered:

  • Setting Ground Rules for the Tough Conversations

  • What is a Cognitive Bias and Why Do We Develop Them?

  • What Does Bias Really Cost Us?

  • What are the Benefits of Diverse Teams?

Objective

Learn about the science of implicit bias

Meet Your Brain's Most Problematic Superpower!

Objective

Explore your own implicit bias (Hint: We all have them!)

Get to the Bottom of Your Programming

Decoding Our Own Biases

Once we understand implicit bias, we take a quick pass at learning how scientists measure a bias that we don’t necessarily know exists. Every participant will take at least one Implicit Association Test, in order to start digging into the nature of what’s going on inside of our brains. We’ll get some practice at the uncomfortable reality of talking through some of our own lived experiences with bias at home and at work. Finally, we’ll start talking through some of the stereotypes that may exist around us in our communities and at work, so that we can understand what we’re working to deprogram.

Some topics covered:

  • How is Implicit Bias Measured?

  • Taking the Implicit Association Test and Talking About Results

  • Sharing Bias Stories

  • Defining the Stereotypes that Exist Around Us

The Science of 'Debiasing'

Now that we’re students of the science of implicit bias, armed with some solid knowledge about not just how bias works, but also starting to get some intel about the programming in our own heads and around us, that information only does us good if we can do something about it. We’ll talk about the physical structure of the human brain, and why the real magic bullet for defeating bias is the power of rational thinking. We’ll look at ‘interventions’ for interrupting bias when we first recognize it happening, keeping our own biases from affecting our decision making, and how to remove the barriers that keep us from being able to bring our best selves to work, whether we’re worried about how people will treat us, or how they’ll think we are treating them.

Some topics covered:

  • Channeling Your Inner Spock – Defeating Bias Through Rational Thought

  • Interrupting Implicit Bias

  • Methods for Keeping Bias Out of Our Decision Making

  • Bringing Our Best Selves To Work

Objective

Learn scientifically proven methods for overcoming implicit bias

Be Smarter Than Your Own Brain!

Focus

Learn how to apply these methods to your entire organization

Make Your Company Better Together!

Rolling Out Debiasing Initiatives at Your Own Company

Up to this point, we’ve been learning how any team member can start getting a handle on their own biases and their own personal decisions. We’ll talk briefly about how a company can go about finding the barriers that are keeping their people from being ‘Better Together’ and how to build and deploy the initiatives to remove those barriers.

Some Topics Covered:

  • Building a Diverse Family

  • Pressure Points to Watch

  • Build and Implement Initiatives

  • Keep Talking!

Frequently Asked Questions

Want to know more about the program?
How Does This Program Work?
This is a full day session. This session should not be held remotely, due to the sensitive nature of the content. It’s important that we have access to all of our communication ‘bandwidth’ to start learning to communicate these issues. We have room at Arcade’s training space to hold this session with appropriate social distancing. Breakfast and Lunch will be provided (with appropriate COVID safety measures in place to keep everyone safe!)
What are the Computer Requirements of the Program? (Hardware/Software)
It is highly recommended that every participant bring a laptop in order to take the IAT test that we take during this session (unfortunately, this test is designed to be taken with a keyboard and is not mobile friendly!) We do have access to training laptops, but with COVID concerns, it is best if every attendee has their own personal device.
What's Next?
The science behind implicit bias tells us that the first all-important step to untangling these issues is to train everyone to understand and recognize what implicit bias is. Without awareness of the issue at hand, it’s difficult to make any progress. That’s what this session is built to do.

However, once the team has the basic skillset to start having the right kind of conversations, it’s time to think about creating concrete initiatives to remove the barriers that exist within your company.

Though we do talk about that process in broad terms at the conclusion of this session, if you’re looking for help with identifying barriers, designing a plan to remove those barriers and rolling your plan out with strong implementation, we can help! Get in touch and let’s talk about how we can help your team be Better Together!

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