Unconscious Bias

Making it real: innovative, drama-based training to get to grips with unconscious bias in the workplace.

“Since that training I have not stopped talking about Unconscious Bias with my friends and colleagues. It was really useful.”

Everyone is biased. We are all prone to jumping to conclusions, misjudging people, and favouring some of them more than others, way more than we ever realise. Maybe this isn’t news to you. You are here after all. What matters is it is possible to minimise the potentially harmful effects of our unconscious bias, and that more and more organisations are taking steps to do just that.

We’ve helped 1000s of employees to learn more about unconscious bias – where it comes from, why it exists, and the impact it has – and we’ve equipped them with a range of skills and tools to do something positive about it back in the workplace.

Our face-to-face and virtual training programmes use immersive, drama-based content to take unconscious bias out of the theoretical realm and make it real for people. We bring the subject to life in a way that evokes feelings and opens learners up to new ways of thinking and behaving.

Watch a client testimonial.

Learning Outcomes

As a result of participation, learners will:

Increase their understanding and awareness of unconscious bias;
Appreciate the potential adverse impact unconscious bias has on individuals and organisations;
Know the science behind unconscious bias, common types of bias and potential triggers;
Receive an introduction to ways to challenge personal bias and minimise its impact on decision-making; and
Have more confidence to engage in honest conversations about bias at work; and
Identify specific ways to put their learning into action and continue to develop their knowledge and understanding of bias back at work.

The Programme

A half-day face-to-face or 1½ hour online experiential, interactive programme for mixed groups of employees. The workshop is run by an actor-facilitator using dramatised content (live and filmed), alongside electronic voting and group exercises. Face-to-face sessions can be delivered either on-site at your premises or off-site at an appropriate venue.

The programme consists of the following modules.

Module 1:	welcome and explanation of purpose; getting to know each other, outlining aims and objectives, and establishing norms for the workshop.
Module 2:	where we are now; using electronic voting and group discussion to quantify and describe what people have experienced and witnessed at work, as well as what they have done themselves. In this section, we also link into organisational values and diversity statistics.
Module 3:	bias in action; by means of interactive video, learners meet and react to a series of fictional characters giving them a powerful, eye-opening insight into how our ‘fast thinking’ brains work. Further polls and group discussions drive home the surprising breadth of everyone’s experiences.
Module 4:	brain science, tools, and tips; starting with the work of Daniel Kahneman, learners receive an accessible, theoretical underpinning to unconscious bias that covers a variety of types of bias and their triggers. This includes practical tips and models so they can recognise and control unintentional responses.
Module 5:	identifying and challenging bias; learners hear a series of comments and examples of bad practice, so they can identify the kind of bias and the triggers at play. Next, working together, they agree the best, most appropriate way to respond if they encountered a similar incident in their workplace.
Module 6:	summary, action planning and evaluation; at the end, learners identify one or more practical actions they will take back in the workplace, before the session closes with a series of electronic polls to evaluate whether the session met its objectives.

Learning into Action

We have been delivering innovative training programmes on unconscious bias since 2013. In that time, we have had customers from the public, private and not for profit sectors, including Adidas, NHS England, University of Westminster, NYAS, and National Grid. It is our number one seller and has been delivered to 1000s of employees.

Results from in-session electronic polling include:

97% of learners recognised the importance of unconscious bias and had ideas about what they can do about it
97% identified ways to reduce bias in their workplace
95% heightened their awareness of bias
94% had better recognition of influence of bias on their actions
86% expressed more confidence to challenge
94% of learners found it a worthwhile session
96% felt inspired to make a positive difference back in the workplace

In follow-up surveys (6 weeks later):

87% of learners continued to recognise the importance of unconscious bias and had ideas about what they can do about it
85% continued to feel that the training had been worthwhile
59% had been in a general conversation about unconscious bias at work
29% had engaged in an ‘honest’ or ‘difficult’ conversation in response to a situation or behaviour where bias was a factor (six out of ten learners had not been in such a situation)
64% of learners had done all or some of the actions they had planned as part of the training programme (only one in eight had not done anything)
95% still felt they had been inspired to make a positive difference back in the workplace

Interested?

If you are interested in running this training programme in your organisation, or if you simply want to ask a question about it, hit the button to contact us or call +44 (0)1484 310234.

Our Clients Include