Building Diverse and Inclusive Teams: A Marathon, Not A Sprint

I recently had the opportunity to deliver a training at the Southern California Center for Non-Profit Management on building diverse work teams.

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. After some initial butterflies and a rocky start, I settled down and I think it was a rewarding and productive experience for me and the training participants. Review of the evaluations indicates that the majority of the participants felt it was a useful experience.

I am grateful because not only was I of service to a variety of non-profit leaders but in the creation of the presentation itself, including the research I conducted on various models of teambuilding with a focus on diversity and inclusivity. I gained valuable insight into how to achieve an enduring climate of trust, cohesion, and growth in the workplace.

In this regard the point that resonated was that diversity and inclusivity trainings which are one time learning/training experiences miss the mark and are doomed to failure. Effective and relevant trainings can’t be “one shot deals.” Instead, they must be able to impact the communication and collaboration network of the organization so that training for diversity and inclusivity becomes an integral part of the organization’s ongoing training and meeting infrastructure.

In future blogs I will discuss other dimensions of the theory and practice of preparation and delivery of diversity/inclusivity trainings for not-for-profit organizations.

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