"BRAKING" BIAS
IMPLICIT (UNCONSCIOUS) BIAS Mitigation SERIEs for organizations
IMPLICIT BIAS MITIGATION SERIES
As part of their Brake Your Bias curriculum, Dr. Marks and the MindMarks team have developed a deep-dive, 6-part training series to provide participants with a step-by-step process toward bias management and reduction. If executed properly, the strategies taught in this series will likely enhance participants’ ability to deliver quality experiences, services, and products to employees, customers, and stakeholders. The six sessions can be spread across several days, back-to-back, weeks, or months. This is a virtual series, although exceptions for in-person delivery can be discussed. This series is exclusively taught by Dr. Marks, who will answer questions and address specific cases presented by attendees as time permits. This series has more of a group-coaching than formal presentation feel to it and will allow attendees to pilot strategies, receive feedback, and adjust as needed.
Each session will provide step-by-step recommendations of how to reduce bias at both the individual and organizational levels. Recommendations for individuals are usually free or inexpensive (renting a movie) and can be implemented by any participant if they are willing to expend the time, energy, and adjustments necessary to form a bias braking habit. The extent to which organizational strategies can be implemented depends on each participant’s ability to influence decision makers if they do not have complete autonomy over their respective organization.
FORMAT FOR EACH SESSION
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In-person: 90 minutes
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Live Webinar: 90 minutes
SESSION #1: IDENTIFYING BIAS
Before we can manage or reduce bias, we must identify the biases we have. This session will provide specific strategies for identifying various personal and organizational biases, including but not limited to race/ethnicity, gender, age, and disability as well as hiring, talent development, promotion and exiting an organization.
SESSION #2: REMOVING OR AVOIDING THE BIAS TRIGGER
To a significant extent, bias is based upon stereotypes—exaggerated associations of certain groups with certain traits. This session will provide participants with strategies that will either remove or temporarily avoid awareness of a another's group identity, resulting in stereotypes being unactivated, and bias becoming a non-issue.
SESSION #3: DISCRETION ELIMINATION OR REDUCTION
Individuals make decisions in their personal and work lives on a regular basis. Most decisions are based upon combinations of objective and subjective information. Bias is more likely to influence the processing and weight of subjective information. This session will provide strategies that will enhance the reliance on objective rather than subjective information leading to fair, evidence-based decisions that can be easily defended.
SESSION #4: ACCOUNTABILITY
People are less likely to act on their biases when there is a known consequence for doing so. This session will provide strategies for creating and implementing consequences and incentives that will decrease the likelihood of participants allowing their behavior to be influenced by their biases.
SESSION #5: EDUCATION AND CULTURAL COMPETENCE
Individuals are less likely to act on their biases when they learn about and respect the history, culture, and achievements of other groups. This session will provide concrete strategies that will enhance participants’ knowledge and understanding of and empathy toward groups toward whom bias may exist.
SESSION #6: MINDFULNESS
Bias reduction and management is a marathon, not a sprint. Thus, it is necessary to implement certain strategies on an ongoing basis. This session will teach participants several mantras they can add to their daily speech and how to use physical and digital resources to keep bias-reducing practices top of mind.