Abstract: Teams are diverse entities with different backgrounds, experiences, and opinions. This diversity leads to bias-influenced interactions among team members, whether they realize the influence or not. The behaviors and resulting decisions made because of implicit or explicit bias have their own consequences to teams and projects alike. These consequences and biases are more visible retrospectively, but how do we encourage and empower people to understand how the judgments they make wholly affect their behavioral interactions?
This session will discuss the the idea of cognitive bias, both implicit and explicit, using several examples from well known studies, smaller research observations, and individual experiences. A facilitated discussion will be conducted to discuss how the example perceptions and situations, as well as participant's own experiences, influence behaviors and interactions with others. By talking openly about bias, participants will learn approaches to dissect their rationale and motivations in order to make decisions which are less emotionally charged and more objective. Participants will leave with a self-defined plan to help interpret their judgments and realizations to continue practicing mindful bias exploration in their lives.
Learning Outcomes: - Identify current (and future) implicit and explicit biases acquired from experiences or societal influences
- Interpret how implicit and explicit biases can influence behaviors, decisions, and interactions
- Decompose judgments to distinguish root cause through self-awareness
- Use discussion takeaways and question framework to continually recognize how bias influences thought processes in future interactions
