Workplace Culture Intentions

At Resource Media, we strive in our day to day interactions with each other – and with our clients, partners and funders – to resist and undo oppressive workplace culture that stems from capitalism, racism, sexism, perfectionism, ableism, cisnormativity, and white supremacy. We seek to elevate relationships, and to restore the “human” into a realm of practices and norms where it can feel missing. We’re not perfect at this, and it’s not about perfection. Rather, it’s about intention, about trying. We want and value input on how we’re doing from each other and from our clients and partners, and we hope that our clients and partners will be interested to ask for and receive reflections from us as well. 

Here are examples of practices that we endeavor to bring into our day-to-day:

• Checking in with each other on a personal level, in genuine inquiry, during conversations and meetings. 
• Taking the time in composing email, Slack and other written correspondence to send messages written with thoughtfulness and humanity, understanding that otherwise such communication can land as impersonal and inhuman.
• Showing understanding, such as by demonstrating flexibility around deadlines, that individuals operate under differing constraints and conditions. 
• Being aware of when to communicate with each other, so as to be respectful of time off and work schedules that are different for different people.
• Engaging in active listening, seeing power dynamics, and practicing self-awareness about how we show up and the space we take up in calls, conversations and meetings; being proactive about creating space for individuals with differing identities and experiences.
• Staying attuned to happenings in the world that are affecting people of many  identities, and showing understanding of what such events may mean for colleagues and partners during and after those events. 
• Being continual learners about microaggressions and the impact they have on colleagues and partners, and working to stop them. 
• Facilitating distributed decision-making by thinking expansively about whose voices can and should be centered in a decision or choice, rather than defaulting to traditional hierarchy. 
• Knowing and sharing about the First Nations and Indigenous peoples whose land we occupy in the spaces we live, work and meet.
• Asking up-front about accessibility needs to enable participation by all in meetings and video conferences. 
• Sharing pronouns along with names and other introductory information at the start of calls and meetings where people are just getting to know each other.