Last updated July 29, 2024
Here are 12 of the best equality, diversity and inclusion activities that we think are useful for teaching employees in the workplace, or for providing workshops for adults as a freelance training facilitator.
What Is EDI and DEI?
The term EDI is used as an acronym for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion and is often used in relation to the workplace. The term DEI is also often used with the terms in alphabetical order to represent Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion.
Equity vs Equality – What’s the Difference?
You will sometimes see people refer to the ‘E’ in EDI or DEI as ‘Equity’ rather than equality so let me explain the difference between equity vs equality.
Equity is used to refer to the idea that we might require different help and resources to reach a certain goal when we have started off from a disadvantaged position, i.e. we might not have had the same chance at a decent education as someone else so we need more help to get to the final position.
Equality is different in that it refers instead to the idea that we should all be treated equally and have equal opportunities. So with equality, there isn’t necessarily the extra help that might ultimately balance out the chances of success for us all. Both are important terms.
Equality in the Workplace
In the workplace, equality tends to refer to the need to make sure that everyone is afforded the same opportunity.
So even if an employee, let’s call her Jane, needs the use of a wheelchair at work, she shouldn’t be excluded from meetings when she needs to work from home. She should be able to access the staff room like everyone else, and should not be excluded in team building events because of her disability.
Equality means that Jane also has an equal chance and that also includes for promotion and other work opportunities.
Diversity
Diversity in the workplace refers to having a wide range of ages, cultural backgrounds, dis/ability, and diversity in terms of other factors, present at work.
With greater diversity come many advantages such as a wider range of perspectives, skills, and ideas and diversity can make a workplace richer.
Inclusion
Inclusion in the workplace is about making sure everyone is included fairly and feels valued, included, and able to contribute without any fear of not being accepted.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Activities
Okay. Now we’ve just explained some of the key terms, here are the 12 diversity and inclusion activities that I promised you.
1. Identity Icebreaker
Number of Participants: 5 or more.
Items Needed: Paper and pens.
Time Needed: 15 minutes.
Intention: This is one of the easiest diversity activities to run and it acts as a nice icebreaker for the start of EDI-related training workshops. The aim of this exercise is to give participants the chance to learn some interesting facts about each other and for them to appreciate the individual characteristics of the other participants.
How to Run the Activity: Start by asking the participants (i.e., employees) to write down 3 to 5 things about their identity on a piece of paper. These things might be related to their:
- hobbies
- interests
- family
- culture
- life experience
- job role or qualifications
- personal values etc.
Then put participants into small groups (such as 4 per group) and ask the participants to verbally share their list with the rest of their group, talking briefly about each point they wrote down.
Also, encourage those who are not speaking to listen attentively and to give the speaker their undivided attention.
The group can then have a short discussion on what they’ve heard, i.e. to discuss interesting similarities and differences in terms of diversity within the team.
Now bring the whole class together again for a class discussion for 5 to 10 minutes.
Either ask some people randomly to share what they’ve learned or ask for volunteers.
Virtual Diversity Activity: To use this activity online you can simply use breakout rooms and a virtual classroom such as in Zoom or MS Teams.
2. Privilege Walk
Number of Participants: 6 or more.
Items Needed: A large open space so that you can have a starting line where everyone lines up beside each other. You’ll also need a list of Statements (but you can use this Privilege Statements List I have created for you if you wish).
Intention: This is a surprisingly powerful and thought-provoking equality activity that lays bare the privilege some of us might have without really realising it. This undoubtedly is one of the best inclusion and diversity activities.
Time Needed: I suggest allowing 30 minutes in total for this employee training activity.
How to Run the Activity: Start by asking participants to stand in line next to each other so they are standing facing the front of the classroom (where you the training facilitator will be standing).
Inform the participants that, as you read a range of ‘Privilege Statements’, if they feel that a statement when read out, does apply to them, they should take one step forward.
Now begin reading out the Privilege Statements one at a time and give participants time in between each statement to step forward or to stay still. Pause to allow participants 30 seconds to consider each statement.
Once all of the privilege questions have been asked, ask everyone to look around to see where they stand in comparison to others in the group. Ask them to take a minute to stand where they are and to ponder their position/placement.
Now ask everyone to take a seat and run a class discussion for 10 to 15 minutes.
Questions I suggest asking include:
- Are there any surprises with the final positions or anything you noticed that you have learned?
- What might we learn from this activity and privilege?
3. Cultural Potluck
Intention: The Cultural Potluck activity is one that you will need to inform participants of in advance. This activity works particularly well for medium-sized work teams.
The idea is that employees will each bring in a food dish that represents their cultural heritage be it British Devonshire scones, an Indian curry, an Italian pasta dish, or an Australian dessert.
This activity helps to promote local traditions and cultural understanding.
Number of Participants: 10 to 20 is an ideal number but you can decide.
Items Needed:
- Space to lay out a table where the foods can be placed for sharing.
- Plates, bowls and other utensils (and napkins)
- Stickers or labels to name each food and country represented.
- A music playlist with a traditional song from each country or region represented.
Time needed: 60 minutes.
How to Run the Activity: This is one of those diversity activities that needs a bit of pre-planning.
Inform the participants 2 weeks before that this group Pot Luck food team building activity will be taking place and ask participants to think about their cultural heritage and to plan to bring food that others can try.
They will need to bring enough so that different people can try it.
For anyone who is not comfortable cooking a dish, they can buy the item and bring it in and it does not need to be expensive. Someone from Devon might, for example, bring a dozen freshly baked scones from a bakery and buy Devonshire jam and a jar of clotted cream.
Ask participants to write a short description of the food item/s and also to find out 3 interesting facts about the food they will bring.
During the one-hour event, participants should eat whatever they wish to. They will also walk around and chat about the foods and the cultural facts.
If this is one in a series of equality, diversity and inclusion activities that you are running, you can have a full group discussion the following week on the foods, and what they learned, and enjoyed.
As the training facilitator, you might want to try and have a small budget available to help anyone who will struggle to buy anything, so that they do not feel under stress. This is after all, about inclusion and not everyone has the same economic means.
You might also need to ask about any dietary requirements and factor this in when organising the Pot Luck event.
4. Cultural Artifact Sharing (Cultural Show and Tell)
Intention: This is another great inclusion and diversity activity for introducing colleagues to appreciating different cultures. This activity combines storytelling with cultural artefacts.
Number of Participants: Ideally 8 or more.
Items Needed:
- A circular seating plan but with a table on the side for the artefacts.
- Cards detailing each artefact
Time Needed: 60 minutes.
How to Run the Activity: Much like the Pot Luck challenge, this needs planning, i.e. you should inform participants 2 weeks in advance that they need to think about what artefact they can bring in that has cultural relevance for their identity and life.
The item can be anything they wish but some ideas include traditional clothing, musical instruments, artwork, photographs, and books.
Participants should also pre-prepare a short explanation about what their artefact is and its cultural relevance to them.
Start the activity by presenting your own artefact as the training coordinator. Explain to the rest of the group what their item is and its cultural importance to them.
Then have each participant, one at a time, present their own item and answer any questions participants might have.
Virtual Diversity Activity: You can still run this activity online, i.e. by getting participants to share a photo or short video they prepare related to their artefact. They can easily use a smartphone, for example, to make a short video. Their photo or video can then be shared in the virtual online meeting.
5. Stereotype Challenge
Intention: This equality training activity is all about changing and raising awareness of stereotypes and the damage they can do.
Number of Participants: 8 or more.
Items Needed:
- Paper and pens
- Whiteboard or flip chart
Time Needed: 60 minutes.
How to Run the Activity: Before the training activity you might want to make yourself a list of different popular stereotypes in case you need to guide participants and suggest examples.
Now, with participants sat in a semi-circle or circle, hand out one piece of paper to each participant and ask them to write down one stereotype they have experienced before and been affected by.
This stereotype might be related to something such as their culture, gender, job, etc. They should think about the impact this stereotype had on them and on other people around them.
If a participant struggles to think of an example, they can use an example they make up instead.
Collect the pieces of paper and mix them up.
Now allow 20 to 30 minutes for each person to pick out one piece of paper randomly and read out the stereotype written down.
The participant who reads it aloud will give their thoughts on the stereotype and any experience they also have of it. Others can then discuss the stereotype as a whole group.
Ask the training facilitator, ask how we can change each stereotype (if it has not already been discussed).
Have each person choose a piece of paper and follow the process above.
Virtual Diversity Activity: To run this activity online, use an online teaching room in the same way. For submitting their one stereotype idea they could email the ideas to you and you could randomly allocate one idea to each person or allocate each stereotype idea a number and then ask each person when it’s their turn, to pick a number.
6. Inclusive Language Exercise
Intention: It is essential as managers and as colleagues that we use inclusive language so that everyone feels a part of the team and to ensure no one feels excluded. This inclusive leadership activity is aimed at helping participants appreciate the importance of inclusive language and what terms they can use instead of otherwise problematic non-inclusive terms and expressions.
Number of Participants: 6 or more.
Items Needed: Paper and pen.
Time Needed: 60 minutes.
How to Run the Activity: Start this inclusive thinking exercise by dividing participants into groups of 4 or 5 and then providing them with a large piece of paper and a pen.
The groups will then have 15 minutes to work together to brainstorm and to make two lists, i) examples of language that they think can be exclusive, and ii) problematic terms in various contexts (i.e., at work and in social situations).
Now ask each group to say aloud 3 or 4 of the terms they have on each of their lists and as they read them out, you (as the training coordinator) can write these terms onto a large whiteboard to make a large list.
As a full group now go through each problematic term on the whiteboard and ask the class for an alternative way to say each one, to make it more inclusive. Write the new term alongside the problematic word.
I then like to invite the participants, if they wish to, to take a photograph with their smartphone to have a copy of the whiteboard with all the good terms listed and the problem terms with better options listed by the problem terms.
>> Teaching Employees the Basics of Equality, Diversity, & Inclusion
7. Diversity Calendar
Intention: The Diversity Calendar is an easy way to highlight key events, i.e. festivals, holidays and celebrations that matter to the employees. This sharing of information can give employees a greater sense of inclusion and generate genuine interest from other employees.
Number of Participants: 10 or more.
Items Needed: Large wall calendar or poster board.
Time Needed: Ongoing but initially 1 hour.
How to Run the Activity: Start this inclusion activity by asking your participants to spend 20 minutes as a group writing down important holidays and celebrations on sticky notes. These events can include cultural, religious, and historical dates. In addition to the dates though they should include a few words about why it’s important.
The participants can place the sticky notes onto the board under each month.
Now facilitate a group discussion to talk about each sticky note and the meaning and value of each. You might ask, for example:
- How is the date celebrated or observed?
- What does the event celebrate and signify?
Virtual Diversity Activity: If organising this virtually, you can use Google Calendar or another similar tool for the calendar. Input each significant date along with a brief description of its significance.
You can run the brainstorming and sharing sessions via video conference.
Consider colour-coding or using icons to differentiate between cultural, religious, and historical events.
8. Bias Jar
Intention: This is one of the best self-reflection diversity and inclusion activities as it helps participants to recognise and consider their own biases.
Number of Participants: 5 or more.
Items Needed:
- A jar or container
- Small slips of paper and pens
Time Needed: 15 minutes (and then it’s an ongoing exercise, i.e. something you can do regularly).
How to Run the Activity: Place the jar (or another type of container as needed) in the middle or front of the training room and then provide participants with slips of paper.
Now explain to participants that when they notice a bias in themselves or others, they should write it down on one of the slips of paper and put the paper in the Bias Jar.
(This activity works well if you are providing unconscious bias training so that participants will already understand the types of bias).
Note: You should also explain that this is a self-reflective exercise and not based on judging each other so you should feel relaxed to be open about any biases (it will be anonymous).
Hand participants slips of paper and ask them to try and remember a recent situation in which they experienced or showed bias. They should write it down on the slip of paper anonymously, i.e. NOT including their own name and not including the name/s of anyone else. They can make it fairly general if needed to keep it anonymous.
Now you can either pull out some of the slips, read them aloud, and have a group discussion on the common biases that come up and what strategies and ways can be used to overcome and avoid these biases happening in the future.
Or you can give participants a week or month to add the slips (if they all work in the same company) and then have a catch-up at a later date (and maybe regularly) to discuss biases and solutions.
9. Walk a Mile in My Shoes
Intention: This is one of my favourite diversity training activities for helping participants learn about fostering empathy and taking time to better understand the perspectives of others.
Number of Participants: 8 or more.
Items Needed: Pre-prepared scenarios and character cards.
Time Needed: 60 minutes.
How to Run the Activity: Before the training session, you will need to prepare a set of cards with the scenarios and characters on them. The characters should represent different perspectives and experiences, i.e. based on differences in income and economic status (rich and poor), various cultural backgrounds, and dis/abilities.
To give you some example scenarios:
- You are living in a place where you don’t speak the language and every interaction is difficult
- You have to use a disabled motor scooter every day but so many places do not cater or provide provision for you on your scooter.
- You face constant judgement and assumptions from others on a daily basis because of your appearance. You have lots of piercings and tattoos, for example.
- You are having to deal with chronic pain but others cannot visually see the issue and this affects your mental health because of the lack of understanding of others at work.
To start the session, split participants into pairs and hand out one scenario role-play card to each pair and then give them a minute or two to read and digest what’s on their card.
Now give the pairs 10 minutes to act out a roleplay based on the scenario on their card. One person will take on the role of the person on the card and the other person will take on any other roles that are relevant to the interaction.
In the role play, inform participants that they need to think about how the character on their card would feel, react, and reply in different situations.
After the 10 minutes hand them another card and the other person in their pair can play the lead role.
After both participants have played the lead role, have a group discussion and ask what people have learned about empathy and perspective.
End the class by explaining that by learning how to show empathy, by taking the time to try and consider why other people do certain things (from their perspective), we can be much more understanding.
10. Disability Awareness Simulation
Intention: We generally lack great awareness and understanding of the issues faced by people with disabilities, whether these disabilities are visible or not.
These types of diversity and inclusion activities begin to help raise greater awareness of the need for more empathy and understanding for fellow employees in the workplace.
Number of Participants: Any number.
Items Needed:
- Blindfolds
- Earplugs
- Where available and practical, items such as wheelchairs, crutches and canes.
Time Needed: 60 minutes.
How to Run the Activity: In the training room you will need to set up a small and fairly simple obstacle course (or if there is a field or park very nearby you might want to use a nice outdoor space).
Start the activity by dividing the groups into teams of 4 and have one person in each group use one of the props to navigate the obstacle course whilst guided and aided as needed.
So use the props and run the activity such as:
- Mobility Impairment: Get participants to use a wheelchair, crutches, or cane to experience having to navigate through and along obstacles. If you can include the need to open doors and the need to perform tasks such as having to reach for an item on a high shelf then it’ll add even more reality to the experience and understanding.
Note: Safety is important so do consider safety first before organising this activity.
After the main part of the activity is over, bring everyone together as a class and run a group discussion where you discuss:
- How did the activity go and what did they learn?
- What was especially difficult and surprised them?
- How has their understanding and future empathy potential changed?
- Any other lessons that they wish to share with the group?
11. Microaggressions Awareness
Intention: In terms of inclusion training activities, this is a great activity for raising awareness of microaggressions, the impact they can have on colleagues, and how we might try and avoid these microaggressions.
Number of Participants: Ideally 8 or more participants.
Items Needed: Microaggressions examples handout.
Time Needed: 30 minutes.
How to Run the Activity: To start, divide participants into groups of 3 or 4 (bigger groups if you have a lot of participants) and provide each with a large sheet of paper and a microaggressions handout.
Now ask each group to spend 15 minutes discussing the microaggression examples you have given them.
They should think of and discuss:
- What might be the consequences of each microaggression?
- What is a better way to phrase things to avoid these microaggressions?
After 15 minutes are complete, then start a class discussion by inviting each group one at a time, to talk about one of the microaggressions that they discussed.
12. Diversity Charades
Intention: This is one more of the inclusion and diversity activities in the workplace that is great for developing a workforce where greater understanding exists in terms of diversity and inclusion.
Furthermore, this can be a fun diversity teambuilding game that you can also use as an icebreaker.
Number of Participants: 6 or more.
Items Needed:
- Charades cards with diverse cultural, social, and identity-related topics on them (you can hand make these as needed). These cards can include famous cultural icons, traditions, and holidays.
- Timer or stopwatch
Time Needed: 45 minutes.
How to Run the Activity: To get started divide the groups up into 5 or 6 people in a team and then provide each group with a set of diversity charades cards.
With one person in each group also acting as the timekeeper (they can use the stopwatch on their smartphone if they have one), one person in the group has to select a card at random.
This person then has to act to try and portray the word/phrase on the card and they have 120 seconds to try and do this.
If the group guess correctly then they award themselves one point.
A different person in the group now needs to choose a card and repeat the process and this is repeated for the number of times you wish. I would suggest 10 times.
Training Materials
If you enjoyed these equality, diversity and inclusion activities, i.e. it is exactly what you were looking for, I think you might also be interested in the following EDI, DEI and Equity training materials and resources:
Owner at Symonds Research Training Materials
Valeria has a PhD in Sociology, has 25 years+ working in education, has taught at the University of Bath &Cardiff Metropolitan University, & Hankuk University (Korea) & worked as a researcher for Exeter University, & has many years of industry experience including with Cardiff University in management roles. She now creates training course materials courseware.