Article: Mansplaining, Manterrupting, and Bropropiating: Gender Bias and the Pervasive Interruption of Women Author: Arin N. Reeves Key Points: This article discusses research conducted on the question of gender difference in interruption behavior and how these behaviors were perceived.
Context of the situation (panel discussion, live meeting, conference call) matters.
In panel discussions, women were likely to be intrusively-interrupted (usurping the speaker's turn at talk with the intent of ceasing the speaker's ability to finish the thought organically) by men regardless of whether they were specifically asked a question or if they were adding commentary.
In live meetings, men were twice as likely to interrupt, and significantly more likely to interrupt women (75% to 25%) than other men. The majority of the men's interruptions were to signify (dis)agreement, accelerate conversation, or add personal perspective; women's interruptions mainly involved asking clarifying questions, repeated points, or adding logistical details.
The lack of visual cues seemed to decrease the number of interruptions in general, as well as the ratio of men/men and men/women interruptions. These interruptions were perceived more as difficulties in having effective group conversations via a conference call rather than a gender bias.
Men typically did not remember being interrupted or interrupting others. On the contrary, women who were interview were overwhelmingly conscious of being interrupted and make dedicated efforts to choose whether or not to respond to the interruption.
Ideas for inclusion:
Create and use agendas - this allows for clarity of who is speaking and why.
Take turns - structured exchanges lead to a markedly less number of interruptions in meetings.
Remind that interruptions make the meeting longer than necessary - this helps create cognitive awareness about interrupting behaviors on the part of the interrupter.
Separate conversations containing free-form (divergent) and decision-making (convergent) thinking - this separation allows for organic flow of ideas in the former to not affect the structure in the latter.
Speak up - if you are a man and notice another man interrupting, speak up about it. If you are a woman who is interrupted, return to your point and reinsert yourself in the conversation. When interrupted, tell the interrupted either in the moment or afterward. This helps to bring cognitive awareness to the undesired behavior.
Material sourced from: http://nextions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/manterruptions-bropropriation-and-mansplaining-2-yellow-paper-series.pdf
Article: Run Meetings That Are Fair to Introverts, Women, and Remote Workers Author: Renee Cullinan Key Points: This article highlights methods to help run meetings that address the needs of the workforce who are routinely overlooked.
Bias #1: Smart people think quickly.
Introverted thinkers need time to process the information, where as extroverted thinkers talk through their thoughts--often at the expense of introverted thinkers.
Before the meeting: Share relevant purpose, data, and discussion questions
During the meeting: Proactively give introverted thinkers the floor
After the meeting: Circulate a summary and solicit ideas that might have come to mind post-closure
Bias #2: Remote conferencing can be notoriously unproductive.
Before the meeting: Share relevant purpose, data, and discussion questions, and engage virtual attendees through video conferencing, if available.
During the meeting: Proactively give virtual participants time to contribute and check in to make sure they are actively hearing and engaged with the conversation.
After the meeting: Circulate a summary and solicit ideas that might have come to mind post-closure
Bias #3: Men have more to contribute
Reframe the conversation to invite women to participate
Foster a culture in which all individuals are encouraged to “call it out” when they see someone being inadvertently silenced in a discussion
Material sourced from: https://hbr.org/2016/04/run-meetings-that-are-fair-to-introverts-women-and-remote-workers