An interview with Janice Bowman, lead developer of the Association of Diversity Council’s Diversity Council JumpStart™ - an innovative consulting workshop that addresses the start-up needs of newly established or “re-started” diversity councils.
Editor: We know that diversity councils help drive the diversity strategic process throughout organizations. It makes perfect sense that there should be a workshop to help develop more effective councils.
Janice: Absolutely! We created Diversity Council JumpStart™ to assist newly established councils and those in the process of “re-starting”. More specifically, we save councils time and resources by helping them to avoid common start-up traps. We also help them to build confidence and competence in communicating their diversity process within the organization; and, we help them to sharpen their overall skills to build momentum and sustain success.
Editor: I understand Diversity Council JumpStart™ can be either a one or two- day workshop.
Janice: Yes, that’s correct. The core curriculum is designed to help councils set a solid foundation for moving forward by enabling members to gain an understanding of diversity as a business strategy and their role in the process. By using a flexible curriculum we are able to build a session based on the modules councils select as most important for them. For example, they may select two out of five modules; or four out of five; or all five. A choice of all five is a two-day program. Also, use of a 4-hour education tool may require a 2-day program.
Editor: It’s my experience that the most productive workshops have participants build an action plan. Does your workshop offer the same?
Janice: Yes, through on-going Application and Action Planning, participants leave with an increased understanding of the benefits of diversity as a strategic approach to meeting workplace, workforce and marketplace goals and the impact of organizational culture and behaviors on leveraging diversity.
Editor: What would you say is the foundation to Diversity Council JumpStart™?
Janice: Our highly interactive council workshop is built around five (5) essential components needed to create and maintain a strong foundation to ensure success:
- Situation - This module answers the question, “What major gaps exist between our current and future states as it relates to diversity and inclusion? During this module participants conduct an analysis to discover gaps, and discuss supports and barriers that might drive or derail the process to close them.
- Strategy - This module answers the question, “What major gaps need to be closed to reach our future state? During this module participants develop strategies and tactics to close identified gaps, along with accountabilities and measures of success;
- Structure - This module answers the question, “What structure will best support strategies that have been developed? Participants create or modify an existing structure to engage people and carry out the plan across the enterprise;
- Skills & Knowledge - This module provides an opportunity for a diversity education experience designed to help the council gain a broad level of awareness and skills. A variety of educational resources are available that range from 90 minutes to 4 hours. Use of a 4-hour education tool may require a 2-day program
- Sustainability - This module focuses not only on understanding support required at all levels of the organization, but also on creating essential strategic components you believe to be critical to the overall success of your diversity strategic process. The module is customized based on pre-workshop discussions to identify areas that might need development or modification.
Editor: So. Janice what would say are some of the workshop benefits?
Janice: Well, there are so many. How much time do you have? Let’s see…I’ve already mentioned a few: sharpens skills to build momentum and sustain success, strengthens the impact, influence and effectiveness of councils and council members and identifies and closes critical knowledge and skill gaps of councils and members. With skills and knowledge comes confidence and competence in communicating the diversity process within the organization. Councils learn to save time and resources by avoiding common start-up traps. They also build team effectiveness and cohesion to reach goals. We provide councils with best practice options for creating a structure that supports strategies and the diversity plan; so councils learn best practices to sustain their efforts and gain the understanding and ability to carryout their purpose. By the time the council completes all program modules, they would have identified the foundational components needed to operationalize the diversity process and to sustain the council.
Editor: I’ve read that your team was very thorough in developing Diversity Council JumpStart™
Janice: Yes we were. We’ve been providing consulting services to councils for over 20 years. Over the past four years as more organizations began to start councils, we noticed a reoccurring theme and trend for the type of assistance and tools that were needed. More specifically, we noticed that councils needed resources to create a council infrastructure that will engage people and execute the plan across the enterprise. They also needed gap analysis tools to discover gaps and develop gap-closing strategies and tactics; as well as tools and resources to help councils build new momentum and sustain success. We designed the workshop with the focus on the 5 S’s (I mentioned them earlier) for building a vibrant and successful diversity council.
Editor: You’ve paused. Is there anything else?
Janice: Oh yes. I just had to catch my breath. Diversity Council JumpStart™ is a business focused instructional design that has a flexible curriculum based on council’s specific needs. The workshop is engaging and fast paced. It was developed and is delivered by facilitators with over 25 years of diversity and diversity council experience. Councils investing in Diversity Council JumpStart™ get a 1- year membership with the Association of Diversity Councils and access to the Diversity Council 10 Point Checkup™ assessment tool to track and measure their council’s progress. I would encourage all new councils and councils looking to restart to consider investing in this workshop.
Editor: Thank you Janice. For more information, visit the page on Diversity Council JumpStart™ or any of their other services, contact the Association of Diversity Councils at 866.220.6370 or email info@diversitycouncil.com.
Janice Bowman is the lead developer for Diversity Council JumpStart™ and the President of the Association of Diversity Councils.
The Association of Diversity Councils, a division of PRISM International, Inc., is dedicated to increasing the impact and effectiveness of diversity councils as an essential partner in driving a strategic diversity process within organizations. The Association offers memberships to council members and leaders, council assessment & benchmarking tools and best practice council consulting workshops for new and existing councils. The Association also sponsors the annual Diversity Councils Honors Award that recognizes the best practices of US councils.
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