Do you have a team comprising diverse cultural, gender, and ethnic teammates? Struggling to create an inclusive environment? Here’s a piece exclusively for you. Read on!
Diversity activities
Diversity is a method of including people from various races, cultures, genders, and social backgrounds into the work culture. Diversity activities are aimed at promoting the concept to encourage involvement and a sense of belonging in the team.
Diversity and inclusion initiatives in the workplace assist in amalgamating professionals from sectors to associate with each other comfortably. The question remains as, “How to celebrate diversity and How to encourage diversity?”
Well, companies can conduct cultural diversity events, diversity team building events, diversity group activity, cultural diversity training activities and diversity icebreakers activities to promote diversity at the workplace. In this article, we will discuss extensively how to promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace and cultural awareness activities for adults.
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Significance of diversity activities for the workplace
Providing compensation, perks and incentives are common focus areas of companies. But understanding the significance of diversity activities for the workplace is equally important. Following diversity awareness activities for workplace stimulates the employee morale and dedication to the organization.
Instilling a comprehensive work culture is a mantra that companies need to follow for betterment and productivity gain. And this is achievable only if you can integrate diversity and inclusion moments. The best way to intermingle the different cultures, religions, and social backgrounds into a single place is by following well-planned diversity activities. Diversity and inclusion games and events revitalize the creative minds to flourish and benefit the organization in the long run.
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Benefits of diversity and inclusion topics
Diversity and Inclusion topics focusing on varying activities, games bring immense benefits for companies. Highlighting the key benefits of diversity activities,
- Diversity and inclusion in the workplace activities rejuvenate the efficiency and effectiveness of employees. It is directly proportional to a company’s productivity factor.
- Diversity and inclusion exercises nurture the minds of the employees to bring in innovations and creativity in their activities
- Studies show approximately 55% of employees prefer a diverse culture in the workplace. Hence diversity in the workplace activity and multicultural event ideas will assist in employee retention
- Diversity icebreakers for the workplace and multicultural celebration ideas aid in creating a collaborative environment among the employees
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Top 15 diversity and inclusion activities
Now let us focus on the diversity and inclusion activities that you can conduct at your workplace. These include activities for the workplace are proven ways to promote diversity and encourage diversity among employees from different backgrounds. You can even conduct several fun diversity activities for the workplace. The sub-sections below will act as a ready reference and guide for organizing diversity activities.
Sharing an employees’ backgrounds as inclusion activities
You can conduct inclusion activities for understanding a person’s background and interests,
- Ask the employees to join in a casual meeting and share their traditional and regional traditions; one of the best diversity and inclusion discussion topics
- Speaking about a person’s hobbies and interests can be one of the interesting diversity activities at the workplace.
The above-mentioned diversity and inclusion in the workplace ideas will break down the barriers of communication and enhance collaboration among the employees
Conduct diversity exercises in groups
Diversity exercises and diversity activities conducted in groups foster a spirit of togetherness.
- One of the diversity exercises for the workplace can be the flower petal game. Each group draws a flower with petals and on each petal, they write out a character unique to each member. At the center, they write the characters which are common to all.
- Conducting happy hours in the office is one of the preferred diversity and inclusion event ideas. Employees mingle with each other proactively to ease out of their uncomfortable zone.
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Sharing memories promotes diversity
A bit of personal touch by sharing important events and memories in life promotes diversity; powerful means to encourage diversity in the workplace and conduct diversity exercises for adults.
- Prepare a collage comprising of personal events of the employees and put it up on a virtual board or a whiteboard. A great way to conduct diversity activities at the office.
- Encourage employees to write articles or draw pictures of their real-life incidents for preparing posters. A popular way for celebrating diversity in the workplace.
Prominent and popular diversity team building activities
Diversity team building activities strengthen the bonding between the teams. You can try the diversity activities and diversity ideas for the workplace mentioned below:
- One of the interesting diversity team building activities workplace is arranging for pot luck parties. Employees can bring in regional delicacies and share them with all
- Privilege walk the talk is another popular diversity team building exercise. Statements are read out and participants are asked to step apart when those apply to them. In the end, find out the commonality and the exceptional characteristics
Predominant diversity training activities
You can try two of the below-mentioned diversity training activities or sensitivity training activities,
- One of the diversity training activities for the workplace is to play the basket game. Baskets can be placed at different angles and each one trying to throw balls in the basket at a specified point.
- You can play the next part of the basket game by discussing why some failed and some did not. A great way to conduct diversity activities and cultural sensitivity training activities.
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Conduct diversity and inclusion events at the workplace
Few of the diversity and inclusion events at the workplace and diversity activities for you to conduct,
- Arrange discussion and collaborative sessions between employees to discuss their varying backgrounds; one of the interesting diversity day ideas and diversity presentation ideas.
- Conduct small events related to various cultures and societies, encouraging all to participate in them; one of the popular inclusion activities for the workplace and diversity committee ideas.
Popular cultural diversity activities
Celebrating and sharing cultural diversity activities and conducting workplace diversity training activities among employees is crucial for bonding in a workplace.
- Prepare a diversity calendar marked with religious festivals, important cultural events of various sects; one of the fruitful diversity fair ideas for conducting diversity activities
- Arrange reading sessions from books that belong to different languages, religions, regions, etc. One of the unique diversity training ideas for promoting cultural diversity activities for adults.
Using artwork as a diversity activity
Using paintings and pictures as a diversity activity is gaining prominence in the workplace.
- Employees can create a collage by using artforms prepared by each person and try to find out a connection. One of the interesting diversity project ideas to instill diversity activities in the workplace
- Arrange art and crafts exhibitions where employees can display their traditional exhibits; beautiful way to celebrate multicultural activities for adults.
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Promote diversity awareness activities
Diversity awareness activities and diversity moment presentations are crucial for companies to promote harmony in the workplace.
- Conduct diversity awareness sessions monthly or fortnightly as webinars or discussion forums; one of the essential multicultural awareness activities and diversity exercises workplace
- Dine out in local ethnic restaurants with the team to promote diversity activities and subsequent awareness among the employees to know each other’s food habits
Create an inclusive workplace through diversity event ideas
Diversity event ideas will help in creating an inclusive workplace that promotes diversity and equality.
- Place a world map at a central place and the employees can mark their birthplaces by pinpointing them; one of the interesting diversity activities
- Find out the languages spoken by each of the employees and place a chit of paper or point digitally in a world map. This particular diversity event is one of the best ways to promote diversity in the workplace.
Use creative diversity program ideas
Here are some creative diversity program ideas to select and refer to,
- A book review or a movie day can be celebrated where books or movies of different languages are discussed or watched. These are creative diversity activities to be followed.
- A session can be arranged at certain frequent intervals where each employee talks about a unique feature of their culture; one of the interesting diversity moment ideas to be celebrated at the workplace.
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Collaborative diversity activities for adults
Certain diversity activities for adults harness a collaborative environment in the workplace.
- Casual sessions on the lives of people after work can be one of the diversity activities in the office for understanding each other and their concerns.
- Sharing the bias experienced by the employees in the team or workplace; one of the diversity week ideas that help curb bias and discomfort among the employees
Ideas for diversity icebreakers
Diversity icebreakers are the inclusion activities for meetings that help professionals from different cultural backgrounds to steer away from their discomfort zone.
- Introductory sessions are the best ways to conduct diverse activities for icebreaking among employees. Knowing names, their background and interests are the diverse and inclusion ideas to promote bondage
- Conducting a bingo game where each employee is asked to prepare sign boxes with a special characteristic. Each person signs the box relevant to their character; one of the interesting diversity icebreakers for the workplace
Key diversity and inclusion activities for adults to create a sense of belongingness
Diversity and inclusion activities for adults create a sense of belonging and acceptance in the workplace.
- Universal communication policies must be established considering the concerns and choices of culturally different employees; one of the prominent diverse activities followed in companies
- Introduce inclusion topics, diversity topics for meetings once a person is onboarded into the company; helps in encouraging diversity in the workplace.
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Introduce flexibility as a diversity team building activity
Diversity team building activity must introduce flexibility in the work culture to promote diversity.
- Work schedules must be flexible for employees to encourage work-life balance, time-zone mismatch, and following cultural events; one of the popular diversity activities.
- Introduce work rotations in roles and duties to eliminate monotony in work; one of the important diversity team building exercises.
Introduce fun-filled diversity training exercises
Diversity training exercises are good to conduct for introducing fun and frolic in the workplace.
- Create a jar where each employee deposits some amount of money if they use wrong biased words in their conversation; good to include in a list of fun-filled diversity activities.
- Conduct the potato game where each participant picks up a potato and try to describe it in their language; a fun diversity icebreaker technique to promote diversity
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Top 5 diversity games for the workplace
Diversity games for the workplace are prominent methods or activities to promote cultural awareness. Positive company culture and enhanced productivity are the results of diversity activities conducted in the workplace. Diversity training games and inclusion games are mandatory for companies to follow and pursue to induce betterment and improvement among employees.
Follow training diversity game
The diversity game is beneficial to achieve better results in the company’s performance.
- “I Am, But I Am Not” game – Under “I Am” employees list facts about themselves and in the “But I Am Not” column list which they are not. It is one of the popular diversity activities
- “Step Apart, Step Together” game – Two employees stand back to back and the rest call out statements. For commonality, they step together and for mismatch step apart; one of the renowned diversity events.
Conduct fun diversity games
Fun diversity games and fun diversity activities are excellent means to introduce relaxation at the workplace.
- Write down topics at the panels of a football and toss them among employees. Employees will enact the prompt that lands on the person; one of the popular and fun-filled diversity activities
- Set up workstations and divide employees into groups. Each group selects a workstation and then starts the assignments mentioned- can be a quiz, puzzle etc. It is one of the fun games to promote diversity and inclusion.
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Introduce cultural diversity games
Cultural diversity games aid in understanding the commonalities and differences between employees.
- Divide into groups and provide art supplies to each. Each group has to draw a festival or a season etc. by introducing common aspects of the members into it. It’s a perfect example of conducting cultural diversity activities
- Play educative games on the difference in skin colour, social backgrounds, religious differences etc. This is one of the preferred ways to promote cultural inclusion in the workplace and examples of cultural diversity group activities
Organize diversity games for adults
Organizing diversity games for adults and diversity activities for adults in the workplace encourage a team inclusion mindset.
- Collect some information and scatter them on a table or paste it into whiteboards. Each employee categorizes them as facts and opinions; one of the intellectual diversity activities.
- Celebrate the traditional cultural day in the workplace wherein employees put on ethnic dresses. It is one of the effective diversity inclusion activities and diversity training examples.
Promote inclusion and diversity games
Inclusion and diversity games and diversity activities are promoted to create awareness of socio-cultural differences among employees.
- Employees to discuss ways to ensure people from different backgrounds are included in groups and not isolated; promoting a diversity circle and diversity moment for all
- Play the complimentary game where employees complement each other for a friendly environment; one of the collaborative diversity workshop activities
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Top 5 diversity topics
In the subsequent sections, we will discuss elaborately diversity topics, diversity scenarios, diversity presentation topics, and diversity moment examples for conducting an inclusion activity, multicultural awareness activities, or diversity activities. The cultural diversity topics can be segregated into inclusion activities for adults and diversity training activities for college students.
Prominent diversity ideas
The key prominent diversity ideas for conducting diversity activities at the workplace are mentioned below,
- Introductions of each employee including name, gender, interests, culture, region, unique characteristic of themselves; can be listed as topics for diversity workshops activities
- Traditional festivals and heritage are topics for promoting diversity in workplace activities, that can be considered by companies.
Interesting diversity moments
The key interesting topics for creating diversity moments in the workplace and conducting diversity activities are mentioned below,
- Celebrating cultural events and festivals at the workplace is a good topic for a diversity moment for meetings and get-together
- Sharing a cooking recipe for ethnic and traditional dishes of each region where the employee belongs can be included as a topic while conducting diversity moments for meetings.
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Fun diversity topic ideas
Diversity topic ideas for conducting fun-filled diversity activities among employees are elaborated below,
- Funny facts about a region from where the employee belongs can be shared in group meetings; one of the thrilling diversity and inclusion events topics at the workplace.
- Sharing jokes prominent in certain cities and countries or of different languages can be one of the topics for conducting diversity and inclusion activities at work.
Workplace diversity topics for groups
For conducting diversity activities in groups here are some of the workplace diversity topics,
- Sharing common factors among members in the group and point out the differences can be one of the topics for conducting activities in a diverse group of adults
- Sharing facts about culture and religion can be an interesting topic for organizing diversity group exercises
Diversity themes for freshers or college students
For freshers or college students, conducting diversity activities is equally important. Here are some of the diversity themes to select and leverage.
- Provide critical problems related to technology or domain to resolve in groups comprising of members from a different culture; an interesting diversity day activity for the young generation.
- Conduct an extempore on the culture or heritage of a region from where the student or employee belongs. One of the action-packed diversity day activities for stirring the young minds.
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Case studies of diversity and inclusion activities in the workplace
Presenting a case study on diversity and inclusion activities in the workplace of Italy’s Barilla Group. The world’s largest producer of Pasta, the company has been significant in promoting diversity activities at their workplace.
As part of its diversity and inclusive activities, it introduced a D&I board consisting of senior employees. An external advisory board was set up comprising of public figures for granting suggestions for diversity workshop ideas and conducting diversity and inclusion training activities.
The group has earned a consistent score in the Human Rights Campaign for Corporate Equality Index for its diversity and inclusion program ideas and conducting cultural diversity exercises. As part of its cultural diversity activity ideas, it introduced resource groups for LGBTs and gender balance.
Use unremot for diversity and inclusion icebreakers
unremot virtual watercooler is one of the best software for diversity and inclusion icebreakers especially for those who are working remotely. Employees can go for social interactions even though not being present face to face; thus assisting in conducting workplace diversity activities. You can create a virtual watercooler corner, add your teammates and start chatting.
This assists in social connections by introducing cultural diversity topics for discussion. People can discuss hobbies, play games, conduct quizzes as part of cultural diversity activities in the workplace. Topics on diversity can be discussed and cultural diversity icebreakers conducted for promoting harmony among employees.
