This article explores the benefits of keeping people involved and informed and the increased challenges of doing so as more and more people work remotely.
Appropriate Subject Area(s):
Careers, business studies, man in society
Key Questions to Explore:
- What keeps people working effectively?
- What is needed to keep employees feeling part of the team?
- What care should be taken when bringing on a new member or employee?
New Terminology:
Inclusion
Materials Needed:
Copies of the article for the students
Introduction:
Everyone at one time or another has felt excluded – not part of a group or decision. The effect of that experience can have a significant impact on the individual and affect the way they see themselves, their fellow workers or friends. A drop in productivity can be the result if it is in a work environment, or the result could be an increase in resentment towards others in the work or social group.
Purposeful exclusion can be a conscious, passive bullying strategy employed by a group toward an individual designed to ostracize or demean that person. Inadvertent failure to include individuals in decisions or activities can have the same effect, even though it was not the intention of the group to do so. It is important, therefore, to develop strategies and approaches that ensure inclusion in order to prevent negative consequences that can impact the productivity or bond within the group. This lesson will have the students focus on the importance of inclusion and explore strategies to ensure that it happens where and when it is appropriate.
Action:
- Begin the lesson by asking the students to think about their first day on a new job.
- Ask them to decide if they would rate it as a positive or negative experience.
- Ask those who rated it in positive terms to explain the reasons for their rating and then ask those who rated it as a negative experience to do the same.
- With answers from both completed, examine the degree to which exclusion or inclusion was a contributing factor to the rating.
- At this point, pair up the students and have the pairs discuss times at which they were excluded by a group and how it made them feel.
- Give the pairs a few minutes to complete this discussion and then have them join another pair and compare their experiences.
- Have the foursomes report a summary of their discussion to the class.
- Attempt to see if there is a consensus about the negative impacts of this exclusion.
- Once this has been completed, ask the foursomes to discuss strategies that they think companies or groups should employ to ensure that inclusion takes place as appropriate.
Consolidation:
- Have the foursomes report their ideas to the class and respond to any questions or comments.
Success Criteria:
The students will be able to:
- explain the impact on an individual when that person feels excluded;
- outline the importance of inclusion;
- explain strategies that can be employed to ensure inclusion as appropriate.
Confirming Activity:
- Hand out copies of the article, have the students read it and, in a plenary session, respond to what they have read, explaining how the content of the article reinforces what they have discussed in their groups.
- As a concluding activity, have the students discuss whether or not they have seen exclusion (failure to include) used as a subtle bullying technique against a person and what should be done about it.