What happens when a younger team member challenges the prejudices of a more experienced colleague
The team has heard that a new, young colleague is joining them.
Let's see what happens …
… want to recruit, encourage, and retain the best talent
… want to capture a team's full potential
… want to put the right people in management roles
… want to take forward-thinking investment decisions
… will demonstrate where you might encounter unconscious bias and its effects at work, and what you can do in these situations.
The team has heard that a new, young colleague is joining them.
Let's see what happens …
Mr. Montana will be here tomorrow to join our team.
Yes, I heard, he sounds a little young. Mid-20s.
Hmm, he is way too young and has no experience at all. He is most definitely not suitable.
... the new colleague asks a few questions during a team meeting.
Can I just ask, … ?
That's a good point. The question is …
What exactly do you mean by 'innovative' …?
... Mr. Montana has quickly integrated into the team and, despite his age, has considerable expertise to share, Mr. Carl is sticking to his previous opinion.
For example, he complains that the new colleague asks too many questions.
But in this case Mr. Montana's questions are a clear sign of interest and also of a keen intellect – though Mr. Carl interprets them in a negative way.
Ugh, yet another question.
He's completely incompetent!
Click on the images for details.
What happens?
We may not be consciously aware, but we often interpret information in a way that meets our expectations.
We tend to ignore information that doesn't match those expectations.
Where else is this relevant?
Confirmation bias also manifests in social situations and many others, such as investment decisions.
Investors frequently overlook information that speaks against their investment being successful.
How can I actively address this?
Make sure that you create transparency and write out your expectations. Challenge your own assumptions sometimes, or run a quick thought experiment: look at things from the perspective of someone else in your team, e.g., your line manager, a new colleague, a pregnant colleague, a colleague about to retire …
What would you be thinking if you were someone else?
Explore your subconscious thought patterns to make absolutely certain that you are acting in a considered way.
We may not be consciously aware, but we often interpret information in a way that meets our expectations.
We tend to ignore information that doesn't match those expectations.
Confirmation bias also manifests in social situations and many others, such as investment decisions.
Investors frequently overlook information that speaks against their investment being successful.
Make sure that you create transparency and write out your expectations. Challenge your own assumptions sometimes, or run a quick thought experiment: look at things from the perspective of someone else in your team, e.g., your line manager, a new colleague, a pregnant colleague, a colleague about to retire …
What would you be thinking if you were someone else?
Explore your subconscious thought patterns to make absolutely certain that you are acting in a considered way.
… will demonstrate where you might encounter unconscious bias and its effects at work, and what you can do in these situations.
Mr. Ansens has invited candidate Mr. Konrad to an interview.
Watch how the conversation unfolds …
... the initial phase of the conversation, Mr. Ansens asks about Mr. Konrad's hobbies.
Your resume says that you play football. Do you get out on the field much?
Less on the field, more on TV right now. The game last night was just awful to watch.
So you're a real fan of our local team? I see here that you're from this area – so am I, as it happens.
Really? Wow, what a coincidence. So you probably watched the game yesterday too?
Of course. I was on the edge of my seat right till the last second.
Speaking of 'our team': being a team player is an essential part of this job. Can you tell me about your ability to work in a team?
I've worked in teams occasionally. But I prefer to make decisions alone. Long discussions with my colleagues aren't usually productive.
Thanks for coming to interview today. We'll be in touch.
Looking forward to it, thanks.
... the advertised role requires that the person be a team player, Mr. Ansens rates the candidate quite highly overall. Mr. Konrad gets the job.
Click on the images for details.
What happens?
We judge people who are like us more positively, because subconsciously we focus on those similarities. This …
That's because we often perceive differences as threats. It's another mental shortcut: we actively try and discover the other person's faults.
Where else is this relevant?
Similarity bias also exists in a number of other dimensions, such as gender and social background.
How can I actively address this?
There are several tried and tested strategies for avoiding similarity bias:
We judge people who are like us more positively, because subconsciously we focus on those similarities. This …
That's because we often perceive differences as threats. It's another mental shortcut: we actively try and discover the other person's faults.
Similarity bias also exists in a number of other dimensions, such as gender and social background.
There are several tried and tested strategies for avoiding similarity bias:
… will demonstrate where you might encounter unconscious bias and its effects at work, and what you can do in these situations.
A large hospital has outdated IT management that needs to be redesigned. A team has been tasked with this work …
... IT is assigned to the "Facility Services" department, but in the long term the plan is to set up a new IT department. Mr. Diepgen and Ms. Stokowski have been asked to develop a concept.
Good, then we all agree to distribute these work packages and their content equally.
... is starting to fall behind with his work packages.
I've got so much else on my desk right now. Can you take something off my hands?
Sure. What can I do to help?
... goes on to make several suggestions that have a major impact on the next steps and eventual outcome.
We need to look at change management at the hospital as well as the technical infrastructure.
That's a really good idea. Can you handle that please.
.... the final presentation, their manager is thrilled.
Really good work, guys. Thanks to both of you for this extremely smart concept.
Your dedication really impressed us. By the way, I've recommended you as manager of the new department.
Click on the images for details.
What happens?
Where it is not clear after a team task who provided how much toward the outcome, people tend to overestimate men's and underestimate women's contributions.
This is especially true if there is no clear information available about each individual's contribution.
How can I actively address this?
There are several tried and tested strategies for avoiding attribution bias:
Where it is not clear after a team task who provided how much toward the outcome, people tend to overestimate men's and underestimate women's contributions.
This is especially true if there is no clear information available about each individual's contribution.
There are several tried and tested strategies for avoiding attribution bias:
We've learned that:
Subconscious thought patterns affect many of the day-to-day decisions we take at work. See for yourself in these three case studies.
The situation:
This year only one member of the team is permitted to attend a popular training course. Ms. Sanchez was selected.
No reasons were given for this decision.
How is this decision likely to affect the other team members?
Click on the correct answer.
The situation:
A company has 8 levels with balanced gender distribution (50:50). During each round of promotions, 15% of employees at each level exit the company. Their jobs are staffed with the best talent from the next level down.
The simulation:
We run simulations of the promotions for however long it takes until all employees in the initial situation have left the company. At the end, if there is no bias we would expect to see a gender balance (50:50) at every level.
The bias:
Now let's assume that there's a small bias somewhere. On a scale from 0 to 100, men score an average 52 points while women score 50 points.
Your turn: what do you estimate is the share of women at the highest level of management at the end of the simulation?
Make your decision by moving the blue slider.
The situation:
The "Jennifer/John" effect:
Two groups of professors (male and female) were shown identical applications (resumes) for a laboratory management position – with one small difference. For one group the name on the application was "Jennifer"; for the other group the name was "John".
Your turn: who did the professors think was more competent?
Click on the correct answer.
1
Prepare systematically for HR and evaluation decisions: for example, use requirement criteria defined in advance alongside competency models and structured interview scripts.
2
When putting together decision making committees, promote diversity and get other male and female colleagues involved in key decisions.
3
Introduce your colleagues to the phenomenon of unconscious biases and explain how and where they can become a problem. Turn every employee into a "bias manager".
Click on the video to play or pause.
Pohl, R. F. (2004).
Cognitive Illusions: A Handbook on Fallacies and Biases in Thinking, Judgement and Memory.
New York: Psychology Press.
Nickerson, R. (1998).
Confirmation Bias: A Ubiquitous Phenomenon in Many Guises.
Review of General Psychology, 2(2), S. 175.
Tversky, A., Kahneman, D. (1991).
Loss aversion in riskless choice: A reference-dependent model.
The quarterly journal of economics, 1039-1061.
Kanter Moss, R. (1977).
Men and Women of the Corporation.
New York.
Heilman, M. E., Haynes, M. C. (2005).
No Credit Where Credit Is Due: Attributional Rationalization of Women's Success in Male-Female Teams.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(5), S. 905-916.
First of all: take the time to reflect and uncover your own subconscious thought patterns, and think slowly.
Similarity bias
Confirmation bias
Attribution bias
Cropanzo, R., Rupp, D. E. (2003).
An Overview of Organizational Justice: Implications for Work Motivation.
Motivation and Work Behavior, 7, S. 82-95.
Martell, R., Lane, D., Emrich, C., 1996.
Male-female Differences: A Computer Simulation.
American Psychologist, 51(2), S. 157-158.
Moss-Racusin, C. A., et al. (2012).
Science Faculty's Subtle Gender Biases Favor Male Students.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(41), p. 16474-16479.
Pohl, R. F. (1998).
Cognitive Illusions: A Ubiquitous Phenomenon in Many Guises.
Review of General Psychology, 2(2), p. 175.
Print out a copy of the unconscious bias checklist and leave it somewhere you can access it easily when relevant situations occur – maybe in the file for your next interview? Or in the folder for your next team meeting?
Open the checklistLearn more about unconscious bias. We've put together a broad selection of additional resources for you, including the academic research on which this training is based, success stories provided by Chef:innensache members, and details of other subconscious thought patterns that we didn't have enough space for in this training.
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