Infundo Bespoke workshops and facilitationInfundo consults for clients who require specific processes around diversity and/or inclusion; change management, systems themes diagnosis and thematic resolution. Due to our multi-cultural associate teams; our work in communities around the country; our understanding of human dynamics; systemic readiness and change processes Infundo is well placed to facilitate processes to provide safe places for honest dialogue and shift to take place.
Infundo have done this for schools and educational institutions but also for large corporates to foster stronger relationships and understanding across gender; race and demographically diverse constituents. Creating a space for discussions and insights leads to changes which are not available to us at times of shaming or punitive consequences. Due to our shared history in this country we have all integrated unhelpful paradigms, which through dialogue, can be shaped differently and anew. THIS IS TRUE TRANSFORMATION. Corporate and institutional workshopsDiversity; transformation; colour; quota's. These are anomalies - what heals is the realisation that we are ALL the same in some way; that we have stories which have shaped us and given us our views and perspectives.
What heals us and enables us to be together is the ability to hear each other; to "see" each other - because when we have truly seen each other we can build the bridges between us to grow together. We are shaped by our history; how we see the world - how our childhood shaped the way we interact with others; how we see authority; how we interpret signals; how we view ourselves in relation to others. Now that we are older, and have done the necessary work we are able to consciously work with these nuances; but at times we can still work by default - by the way in which we react to someone; how we enter a room; what we consider to be good enough; and also what we are willing to do; or try. "You don't know what you don't know. Or to quote Donald Rumsfeld, 'Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don't know we don't know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tend to be the difficult ones.' Putting ourselves in someone else's shoes is an inadequate way to understand their point of view. Because we're wearing their shoes but still with our own particular context that frames our vision. The experience of being other - black in the presence of white, female in the presence of males - automatically colours our thoughts, our actions, our instincts. How does this affect our interactions and how important is it for us to always be self-aware in the presence of others? We will have a conversation that explores these unconscious dynamics and how we each have a responsibility to exercise awareness of self and others in order to be sensitive to how we build a society which is respectful and responsive." |
Standard Bank Diversity and Inclusion workshopOne of Standard Bank’s business units of 280 people attended a 2 day semi-formal gathering in 2016. A need was identified for sensitization and dialogue to address some topics relevant for South Africa around inclusion and diversity. It was felt that proactive management and thought provoking discussion around these relevant social issues would be helpful to the team in general as part of a broader conversation happening in the country. We were tasked to facilitate a half day workshop to explore these issues which provided the following outcomes:
The workshop was designed to explore each person’s ‘unknown’ ie there are things we don’t know we don’t know. It explored unconscious biases. The facilitators and activities assisted with the integration of learning in a healthy, safe, open-minded and constructive manner. It was important to deepen learning for each person and the group so that they left feeling heard and connected to the topic and each other and any emotions that may arise were managed. The half day session allowed for the team to share; learn; laugh and engage with each other - outcomes being shared perspectives but also a deeper sense of self and each other. |