A Guide to Allyship, Part 3: Action
PART Three, the Third step in allyship, begins with action.
The deepest level of allyship is taking action. Allyship is not linear, but rather a back and forth between realization, engaging, and action, depending on your context.
We acknowledge that it is not easy and urge you to accept that you may not always get it right; act anyway. Inaction is more dangerous than your fear of getting it wrong, don’t let that fear keep you from being an active ally. Our intention with this three-part series has been to help the well-intentioned allies out there. These suggestions are thought starters, and we know you will find so many more ways to build on these ideas within your workplace.
We hope you enjoy the third installment of our series, found some insights, take away some learnings, and will start with making a difference. No matter how small, we hope you can be an ally not just for us but for everyone in our community; to stand up for what is right.
Give women in ID a voice to fully share.
One of the microaggressions we talked about in part one is when someone interrupts or speaks over a women in a conversation. One way to be a good ally is to be very intentional in allowing a woman to finish speaking or redirecting the conversation back to her when she is interrupted.
Go even a step further and intentionally solicit women’s voices in meetings to add to the conversation.
Call on womens’ expertise and lean on them to speak on subjects that they know more about.
Women bring a unique point of view to ID. Recognize her ideas by amplifying her voice if it is getting lost in a meeting or email chain. You can deflect a question if it relates to a topic that a woman is an expert on.
Hire, mentor, and give opportunities to women in ID.
ONE. Hire women or recommend them for hire, depending on the position you are in.
TWO. Expand your search for candidates beyond referrals from your current circle. Select where you post your openings with the intention of reaching a broad, diverse pool of candidates.
THREE. Highlight your team and or company commitment to diversity. Allow a public view of your efforts.
FOUR. Give women on your team opportunities to prove themselves and grow.
FIVE. If you have women that report to you, have authentic development conversations. Help them understand how career advancement happens at your company.
SIX. If you are in the position to recommend, speak up if they deserve a promotion, stretch assignment, or other growth opportunities.
The importance of Showing authentic appreciation & advocacy.
ONE. Second her idea in a meeting if it was good, yet overlooked.
TWO. If you appreciate work you see online from a female designer, let her know and amplify it to others. That could be a message to her, a comment on a post, or a reshare.
THREE. Be authentic about recognition. Women want constructive feedback. Avoid pandering, rescuing, or inauthentic kudos.
FOUR. If you work directly with a woman in ID, get to know her language of appreciation, so you can communicate in a way that is received best by her. Like most of our tips, this applies to anyone you work with as well, not just female employees.
Help others get comfortable being uncomfortable.
Colleagues Lea Stewart and Jason Kehrer decided to host a live virtual meet to let others listen to their discussion of being an ally. They invited their entire design organization of over 200 people and sent out the recording and takeaways for those that could not attend. By doing it this way, they were showing others that they were vulnerable, that anyone can open a conversation with a colleague, but they also had control of what they wanted to talk about and have heard. It sparked so many good conversations amongst colleagues afterward. The outpouring of thanks and support was tremendous. It’s amazing if you are able to do something similar within your own company, but smaller actions matter too. Taking the time to have a conversation with someone about allyship can have just as big of an impact.
Point out blind spots to others when you witness them.
When men do things like mansplaining, they likely aren’t purposefully ill-intentioned or trying to prove something. They may be very appreciative if another ally helps bring awareness to their misstep. Read the room and choose the best way to deliver the feedback in a way that it will be received. For example, pulling them aside to talk about what they did and what would have been better could be effective. For other situations, bringing attention to the blind spot while happening may be the best bet.
Break down stigmas and inequity.
Be active and evenly distribute office “housework.” For instance, men can offer to order lunch for everyone in a meeting if you see that this usually falls to women. If you are in the position, assign both men and women to do things like plan celebrations and team building events—demand equal pay. Even if you don’t control pay scales, you can ask your leadership how they ensure equality in pay.
Amplify when you see cues to allyship.
If you see that your applicant pool for open roles is becoming diverse, this allows you to speak up. For example, you could suggest a goal of translating applicant diversity into hiring diversity.
If you see that the less experienced staff on the team is diverse, you could point out how great that is and suggest there be a goal to do the same with more experienced and leadership roles.
It is fantastic when calling bias out doesn’t create a social rift. That is an excellent sign of an ally culture. For example, if you get called out, you aren’t bad and shouldn’t be ashamed; it should be a norm for others to critique behavior. Leverage that momentum. Humor can be a great tool here with an evolving culture that is becoming comfortable; it acknowledges the group is past the uncomfortable. It is now obvious that we are all working to enhance and refine our workplace relationships.
We hope you enjoyed our three-part allyship series and that you’ll continue to join us in this journey.
Although this series has just begun to scratch the surface of what it means to be an ally to women in industrial design, we hope it gives you some insight into your own allyship journey and resources to continue learning and acting. Systemic change takes all of us working together to improve the lack of diversity in design. As always, if you have your own suggestions on how to be a good ally, drop a comment below.