As a leader, it’s your responsibility to ensure that your team is as cohesive and successful as it could possibly be. This means that everyone needs to know their roles and work together to achieve the larger strategy that you’ve laid out for them. In order to do this effectively, it’ll take every member of your team. You need to be truly inclusive of everyone’s skill set and ideas to make a team work successfully. But how can you be an inclusive leader, when perhaps, not everyone’s skills are needed in every single project?
Communication Is Key
First and foremost, to be an inclusive leader you need to actually talk to your team. Be clear and concise about what you would like them to do, and precisely what the bigger picture is. Your team will never work cohesively and efficiently if the end game isn’t clear.
In terms of inclusion, it’s important to ensure that everyone is present at briefings, regardless of their involvement in a particular project. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they need to attend 2 hour meetings about something they’re not working on, but everyone in your team should be aware of what everyone else is doing, so that they can better utilise resources and understand the vision of the department. Whether this is done in person, or as a status update through the daily Wundamail, ensuring that everyone is talking and knows where they stand is absolutely key.
Open The Floor
This brings us to our next point. Not only must you be clear in your communication, but you also have to allow your team members the opportunity to offer their opinions and ideas. Part of being an inclusive leader is developing tolerance, and becoming receptive to a range of ideas. By opening the floor to your employees, they’ll feel more confident in trying new innovative ways of working.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, inclusivity is defined as, “Not excluding any section of society or any party involved in something”. By giving everyone the opportunity to be involved in the conversation and have their say, you’ll be an inclusive leader for your team. Who knows? Your team might even generate some truly great ideas that transform the way you do things as a business.
Play Devil’s Advocate
Although it’s important to be receptive to everyone’s ideas, you also need to challenge your team to think in new and different ways. To challenge your team, playing “devil’s advocate” can prove a particularly valuable tool. Even if you agree with what your team member is trying to do, ask them why they want to do it a certain way? What happens if it something goes wrong? Who will be there to help them out if they need it? Where does this person fit in?
Challenging your team to think more logically and collaboratively when it comes to new ideas, promotes well-rounded thinking, and offers the opportunity to include other people’s skill sets in their planning. This fosters an inclusive and more strategic working environment that really makes your team members think their projects through.
Be Willing To Adapt
A crucial part of being an inclusive leader is the ability to adapt. If you want your team to be considered and receptive, you must set the example. Being an inclusive leader means that when something changes within your team, you will need to react accordingly. Perhaps there’s a new recruit that needs integrating, and their skill set might really suit a project that’s already off the ground. Perhaps you might need to alter the direction of the project slightly, so that it can benefit from their involvement.
Alternatively, you may get directives from above which means that you need to switch courses. In order to take on board new ideas and do what’s best for the team, this might require some changes within existing projects. Adaptability is a key part of being a leader, but when being truly inclusive, you might want to consider that some of your ideas might benefit from a tweak here and there from your team.
Keep Your Door Open
You will have heard of the open door policy, wherein your (literal or figurative) office door should always be open so that your team can come to you any time, with any queries or problems that they might have. This is paramount for anyone hoping to lead an inclusive team. This goes beyond just making sure that everybody as a role to play in any given project, but rather aims to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to contribute and be heard. Open door policy really does allow you to be the most inclusive leader you can be.
It’s unrealistic to have your whole team collaborating on every single project - you’d only ever get through one thing at a time, which isn’t really viable long-term. But being an inclusive leader is about being someone who considers everyone in the team based on their strengths, weaknesses, and individual skill sets, and really includes them in the wider conversations.
Here at Wundamail, we believe that everyone should be a part of the conversation and understand their place in the bigger picture. To achieve this, Wundamail sends a question to the whole team each day, then compiles the responses into a single group email. Team activity is collated, condensed and circulated for all to see- no apps, usernames, or passwords needed. Just like that, a daily feedback loop promotes accountability, unlocks insight, and keeps teamwork efficient and inclusive.
