A bystander intervention is the act of stepping in to support a person experiencing harm.
What’s considered harm? Microaggressions, those subtle, everyday comments that perpetuate stereotypes. This can include things like a colleague making a joke about an accent, someone interrupting a woman in a meeting.
As communicators, we need to foster a culture of intervening. So, how do we do that?
Intervene: Choose the safest option for you and the person affected.
- • Direct: Address the microaggression calmly.
- • Delegate: Ask for assistance.
- • Document: Document the incident. Use it to hold others accountable and assist with escalating the issue.
- • Distract: Change the subject to de-escalate.
- • Delay: It’s OK to delay and process the situation. Check in with the person harmed and then decide on a course of action.
- • Debrief: Check in with the person who was targeted.
Communicators need to use their platform to educate employees on how to be a bystander intervener. That’s a huge step in moving your organization closer to building an inclusive workplace.