EDI Education Resource – Captains Card (Reducing Bias)

Captain’s Card – Tips to Help Reduce Bias

We all play a part in creating welcoming environments but Captains have a key role to play at their clubs.

Our brains tend to take shortcuts when categorising the world around us, including other people, to help us process the amount of information we need to take in. That can sometimes result in decisions and behaviours towards other people based on incorrect assumptions and bias.

You can take steps to reduce bias within your team and club.

On the other side are some top tips to help reduce bias.

Top Tips to Help Reduce Bias

• Get to know your teammates & colleagues better – Spend time with different people at your club. Go beyond chatting cricket to find out about their lives and other interests so you understand and appreciate more about who they really are.
• Be proactive about valuing & respecting others – greet people equally, show you appreciate their time, and make sure everybody gets heard. If you disagree, respond constructively to make sure they still feel able to voice a different view.
• Rethink your own behaviour – check your first impressions or the quick decisions you make about other people.Avoid making assumptions that may lead you to jump to the wrong conclusions. Take the time to find out what’s actually true before you make decisions.
• Speak up if you see bias/stereotypes – even the smallest behaviours can have a big impact. We can only deal with bias by challenging it and learning how to do better. Speak up if you witness bias. Apologise if you’ve done something biased. In any case, check-in with the person on the receiving end to see if they’re okay.
• Know how to report discrimination – Discrimination is when someone is treated unfairly because of a protected characteristic like age, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation, and it is illegal. You can report discrimination that you have experienced or witnessed on the ECB’s website or via the QR code – https://www.ecb.co.uk/reporting-discrimination