Short answer
Inclusion means creating fair opportunities for people to contribute and considering perspectives that could materially affect the outcome.
About Inclusion
Creates fair opportunities for people to contribute and considers perspectives that affect the outcome. Inclusion is evidenced in work practices and decisions, not inferred from intent, identity, sociability, or attendance at activities.
Use this competency for
- Assessing whether work practices enable relevant people to participate and influence outcomes fairly.
- Setting expectations for identifying exclusion risks in decisions, processes, and shared environments.
Do not use this competency for
- Do not use it to score identity, personal beliefs, cultural fit, or disclosure of private experiences.
Important distinctions
Collaboration
Collaboration joins contributions toward shared outcomes. Inclusion asks whether access to contribute and influence is fair.
Respect
Respect concerns how people are treated. Inclusion also examines structures, access, and whose relevant perspective affects a choice.
Expectations by level
IC1
Uses inclusive team practices
Uses established inclusive practices in defined work and seeks guidance when participation needs or exclusion risks are unclear.
Observable behaviors
- Shares necessary context through accessible agreed channels.
- Makes room for relevant contributions without speaking for others.
- Responds to a stated access need through the available process.
Examples
- Provides the document before a review so participants can prepare.
- Corrects an attribution when another person's contribution was omitted.
IC2
Designs fair participation in own work
Independently identifies who may be affected or excluded in ambiguous work and adjusts participation and decision practices.
Observable behaviors
- Invites relevant perspectives before a decision becomes costly to change.
- Checks whether the working format creates avoidable participation barriers.
- Explains how differing input was considered in the final choice.
Examples
- Adds asynchronous input to a process that had depended on one time zone.
- Changes a test sample after identifying an affected group that was missing.
IC3
Removes systemic participation barriers
Addresses complex inclusion risks across teams by changing systems that repeatedly limit fair contribution or consideration.
Observable behaviors
- Uses evidence to identify recurring barriers in a shared process.
- Builds participation checks into high-impact cross-team decisions.
- Monitors whether a change improves access without creating hidden burdens.
Examples
- Revises a planning process after finding that key roles consistently enter too late.
- Adds an accessibility review point to a shared delivery standard.