Allyship & Psychological Safety
Available As:
In-house training
- Face-to-face (for <15 people)
- Live virtual (for <15 people)
- Conferences and events (<500 people)
- With or without actors
- Fully customisable
Allyship & Psychological Safety
This forward-thinking programme uncovers what we mean by phrases like ‘allyship’ and ‘bystander effect’ and explores how to develop a psychologically safe environment which encourages people to bring all their experiences and ideas to the table. It has been carefully designed to be both thought-provoking and practical. Participants will leave the session understanding how they can become active allies and use privilege to amplify the voices of others.
As with all our programmes, you have the choice of including actors to bring scenarios to life (literally!) It can be tailored to meet specific development needs of different teams, or coupled with other sessions to build a modular programme for the longest-lasting impact.
Course Content
My psychological safety
This activity is designed to get individuals thinking about why and when we feel comfortable and uncomfortable. We use a scenario to bring this to life (enacted by actors or ‘paper’-based) demonstrating what it looks and feels like when people cover important parts of their identities and code-switch in the workplace.
We explore the impact of this, the conditions for psychological safety and inclusion, and how levels of psychological safety have a significant impact on people’s happiness, sense of belonging, and motivation at work.
The fear factor & bystander effect
As a group, we consider the definition of fear, how this affects our behaviours, and how this might impact on feelings of belonging for individuals. We reflect on the characteristics of fear and how we can work together to overcome these and build inclusion. We also consider the bystander effect and how it can hold us back from encouraging psychological safety.
How we help others feel safe
This activity encourages the group to reflect on how much each of a series of eight statements represents their own attitudes and behaviours. We then consider a further eight statements that look at our individual perception of the behaviours around us and explore what differences exist between our individual viewpoints and the viewpoints of the group.
Defining allyship and associated terminology
We start by discussing our understanding of the words ally, performative allyship, intentionality, co-conspirator, and accomplice. We consider the behaviours and attitudes involved and the impact this has on others.
We build on our understanding of the word ‘ally’ by looking in more detail at the behaviours and attitudes of allies. We discuss who can be an ally and what allyship looks like in practice.
Approaching behaviour change with a positive mindset
We discuss the importance of our words and actions being in-sync, and the importance of cultivating positive attitudes in helping to shift collective behaviours.
In groups, we consider how our own privilege can help us to be better allies. Understanding privilege can be a daunting and uncomfortable task, but having uncomfortable conversations, and understanding the systemic and societal issues that may have worked in our favour, is eye opening and allows us to use our privilege to amplify those who do not have it.
Being an active ally and challenging the status quo
We use a high-impact scenario that brings to life what active allyship looks like in our day-to-day. This scenario is designed to bring to life how every one of us can be an active ally, to highlight some of the fears and challenges we may have to overcome as an ally, and the positive impact we can have when we act.
Let's Talk!
We’re advocates of crafting tailormade solutions that ensure you meet objectives and maximise budgets. Contact us to book a meeting to scope the right solution for your organisation, together.
What About Actors?
Through clever script writing, goose-bump inducing delivery and professional facilitation we can bring so much to life. We stimulate emotion, penetrate the long-term memory and create lasting change.
When we use live drama, we are able to have the actors play out the scenario and then be hot seated for the audience to ask them questions whilst they remain in character. Hot seating works so well because actors work with a pre-rehearsed backstory, so they are able to respond in character. They progressively reveal unexpected elements of their story that will not have previously been told. It can bust assumptions that the audience might have made based on the scenario (situation) but not fully understanding the impact at first sight.
Using actors in this programme enables us to bring to:
- Bring both the subtle, and not so subtle, inappropriate behaviours to life, literally
- Provide attendees with an opportunity to explore the fine line between what is and isn’t acceptable
- Give attendees a chance to challenge the actors whilst they are still in character
- Demonstrate that things aren’t always what they seem at first glance
- Provide delegates with an opportunity to test out alternative ways of approaching what can often be sensitive situations
- Create a goosebump-inducing learning experience that sticks in the long-term memory
Don't Just Take Our Word For It
Mark Canning
Senior Manager, AX“I’ve just completed another great training session with RightTrack learning. I just wanted to say how adaptive Steve, our facilitator was today, to allow us to spend the last hour on a real-life subject, that allowed the course attendees to collaborate and practice what they had just learned. Well done Steve!”
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