Statistically, every second woman has experienced meetings where she got interrupted, disrespected, or not heard - with unevenly distributed speaking times and lack of moderation leading to unproductive meetings, poor decision-making, and disconnected employees.
Meetings are essential for maintaining organisational health: they help us to connect, coordinate, strategise, decide, analyse and let us move forward.
They also take up a lot of time (an average middle manager spends 35% of their working time in meetings) that isn’t necessarily used well.
Realising how much of what we do at work is defined by the quality of our meetings, the female factor is proud to partner with Calvah by Kollektiv MFG, a software that places inclusion and equal collaboration at the center of planning and running meetings.
Why should everyone care about inclusive meetings?
It’s easy for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to become a catchphrase for organisations, something to check off a list to appear as a better employer.
We at the female factor recognise that a true commitment to DEI is shown through what goes on inside an organisation, whether their everyday practices and policies reflect the value they place on listening to voices of the diverse people they seek to attract.
"Diversity drives innovation and we need innovative solutions for a just future."
- Susann Fischer, Co-CEO, Kollektiv MFG
Calvah also identified that organisations with inclusive cultures are:
6x more likely to be innovative and agile
30% more likely to outperform their peers on profitability
29% increase in team collaboration
How can we run more inclusive meetings?
Calvah defines implicit prejudices towards minorities, different communication preferences and personality types, cultural differences and a lack of preparation and moderation as the biggest factors that prevent inclusive, productive meetings.
Thus, It considers a variety of elements in its design to be able to utilize the full potential of a meeting. The platform hosts features that help plan a meeting agenda with a clear structure and equal speaking times, set goals to keep everyone accountable, and lets people see if everyone has the chance to participate.
Not only does this enable a culture where employees feel included and connected to their work, but also boosts innovation and creativity, and shows significant results in company growth and profitability.
the female factor joins forces with Calvah
We believe that when organisations embrace diversity of thought in their day-to-day communication, it allows women and other under-represented groups to be heard once they get their seat at the table.
"Organisations must learn to embrace diversity of thought in their day-to-day communication. Only if women and under-represented groups can speak up and are heard, their opinion will make a difference and result in better products and work environments for all of us."
- Mahdis Gharaei, co-founder & co-ceo, the female factor
the female factor’s collaboration with Calvah will enable the next generation of female leaders to have better experiences at work, while it supports organisations to really live up to what they promise when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Companies can sign up for a free trial of Calvah for one week: app.calvah.dev/register.
about Calvah
Calvah is built by Kollektiv MFG with the mission to build software to improve diversity, equity and inclusion at the workplace. Calvah helps to plan and run meetings, to enforce equal speaking times, to reduce unconscious biases and to improve meeting productivity.