The Power of One: the process of collaboration and inclusion in the workplace

Working with people outside your regular bubble sometimes leads to more meaningful results. Jojanneke van der Toorn, Martine Veldhuizen and Mathias Funk can only affirm this. As part of the Power of One project, an Unusual Collaboration that is currently wrapping up, they have focused on how the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI+) employees - many of which remain unheard and unseen - can be better assessed and addressed in the workplace.

The results of the project follow from a collaboration across academic disciplines that do not often meet. This required substantial attention to the process of collaboration, which was a bit uncommon for those used to working in more disciplinary collaborations. It was thus “not just another side project”.

The members of the team reflect on the challenges (much discomfort!), but definitely also the benefits (for example, the complementarity of different approaches). Read about collaboration, finding balance, tension, meaningful compromises, and more in the short paper.