Do It Right: Running inclusive meetings
A scenario-based learning experience aimed to support managers in building and promoting inclusive meeting environments.
Overview
The Paragon Company (a fictitious name) noticed that their lead managers were not consistently applying Diversity and Inclusion strategies during meetings. This resulted in costly consequences, including employee resignations, reports of low psychological safety among marginalized groups, and overall reduced team performance.
After analyzing the issue, I confirmed that while managers were familiar with common diversity and inclusion practices, they lacked the knowledge and skills to create inclusive meeting environments where all voices are heard.
To address this gap, I proposed a scenario-based eLearning experience that would allow managers to practice establishing inclusive meetings in a safe, risk-free environment. Through realistic scenarios, learners would make choices and immediately see the consequences of their actions, connecting decisions to tangible outcomes.
I also recommended incorporating a custom character to provide immediate, contextual feedback throughout the scenarios. Finally, I suggested including a personalized meeting report based on the learner’s choices, along with a downloadable job aid to reinforce best practices beyond the training.
Audience: Lead Project Managers
Responsibilities: Instructional Design, eLearning Development, Graphic Design, Storyboarding.
Tools used: Articulate Storyline 360, Adobe XD, Adobe Illustrator, Miro.
Process
I designed and developed a project with the following steps:
Create the Action Map
Write a Text-based Storyboard
Design Visual Mockups
Design a Visual Storyboard
Develop an Interactive Prototype
Finalize and Publish the Project
Action Map
After the client approved my initial proposal, we moved into the kickoff phase. I met with an experienced lead manager and the company’s Diversity & Inclusion specialist, who served as subject matter experts (SMEs), to develop an action map and define the learning goals for the project.
Together, we determined that meeting satisfaction survey data, which the company already collected, would serve as the primary metric to measure the impact of the training. We then analyzed the specific actions managers needed to take to foster an inclusive meeting environment, which laid the foundation for the learning objectives and scenario design.
Text-Based Storyboard
Once the action map was created and approved, I started working on a text-based storyboard. In my storyboard, I incorporated key actions from the action map into a cohesive narrative.
As the lead managers have already taken diversity and inclusion training, I designed the scenario where a learner helps an invited D&I coach to understand the company’s diversity and inclusion strategies. It allowed to reinforce knowledge gained from previous training and asked learners to evaluate whether their current behaviors correspond with the practices they’ve learned before. I consulted with the SMEs to ensure each element was grounded in reality.
I chose to frame the scenario around a brainstorming meeting as this type of meeting involves active engagement and participation. This way I demonstrate how an inclusive meeting environment can benefit the managers as it results in higher employee engagement and desire to contribute to the agenda. I also incorporated a mentor to provide assistance and feedback.
Each slide with a question and answer choices had a tip screen that a learner could access at any time. One of the key features is a feedback report provided at the end of the experience that let learners know how well they did with the scenarios.
Visual Mockups
After the text-based storyboard was revised and approved, I began creating visual mockups for the scenario in Adobe XD and working on illustrations in Adobe Illustrator. Using Adobe XD allowed me to iterate on and experiment with visual design elements to create an experience that felt immersive and well-designed.
I maintained a consistent visual style for each element and created a custom color palette. To ensure a logical narrative, I edited three different office settings to have a realistic common office area, meeting room, and feedback screen. Lastly, I designed the prompt boxes, font, buttons, and drag-and-drop interaction.
After the visual mockups were ready, I sent them for SMEs to review.
Visual Storyboard
The visual storyboad helped me to combine visual mockups with the text-based storyboard to have all assets and elements organized in one place.
I’ve also included the programming notes for each slide and after that starting developing the interactive prototype.
Interactive Prototype
I used Articulate Storyline 360 to create an interactive prototype with help of the visual mockups and a storyboard to demonstrate the project’s programming. The prototype consisted of the title screen, introduction, mentor introduction, hint screen, drag-and-drop interaction, meeting screen, the first question, and feedback form. I incorporated smooth fading and wiping animations for each prompt and slide element to maintain the immersion experience.
To demonstrate the feedback form provided at the end of the experience, I programmed triggers and variables that allowed me to record correct and incorrect choices made by learners.
In addition, I used Adobe XD to create a downloadable job aid.
Full Development
The full development of the project in Articulate Storyline 360 was straightforward and productive now that all elements had been designed and reviewed by SMEs.
Results and Takeaways
I shared the fully developed project with my network online and was overwhelmed by the positive feedback received. Viewers noted an engaging and appealing design and an interesting scenario. For now, as the project has been released recently, it is difficult to comment on the outcomes of the learning experience but so far learners gave this course high review grades. I will post more takeaways and results as I receive more data to share.
Ultimately, I learned a great deal through the design and development of this learning experience. I improved my skills in working with layers, triggers, and variables that allowed me to record users’ choices that were used for a feedback slide.