Watch This Sp_ce helps you reimagine how you work and communicate to include everyone

This inclusion consultancy business launched during the lockdown. Watch This Sp_ce helps organisations see the benefits of diverse, inclusive workplaces where everyone can thrive.

Back in March 2020 when we were all forced to stay in our homes, the three Co-Creators of Watch This Sp_ce were on a zoom call to catch up. They could see the inequalities of society being highlighted during the pandemic and wanted to do something positive to change that.

They already run a networking group in their hometown, Brighton Digital Women, so they had a network and experience in building a community. They had contacts in a range of different organisations and could see they could bring a new dynamic offering to people.

Co-Creator Allegra Chapman said “the workplace as a concept is outdated and not fit for the world we live in. There’s such a wide variety of people and their lives that employers need to adapt to. The pandemic highlighted this further with employers who previously said working from home was not possible, being forced to adapt overnight. We could see that there was a place for us to create easily accessible, good-quality consultancy and training courses to help organisations who often don’t know where to start”.

Allegra Chapman, Rachel Pearson and Mo Kanjilal spent time creating training courses, a podcast, workshops and consultancy services.  As soon as restrictions eased slightly, they recorded video content together. Rachel is a film maker so she used her skills to create the video content to engage with people for their training courses.  They created simple ways for people to learn about being inclusive in their behaviours and communications.

Mo Kanjilal said “creating a fair and equal society with opportunities for everyone is the world we want to live in. There’s also a strong business case.  Research shows clearly that diverse teams create 19% higher output of innovation. Diverse teams have greater productivity, faster decision-making, and happiness. Younger people look for diversity and inclusion when they are sizing up employers, so those who don’t address this now, will not be able to attract people to work for them. They won’t be the organisations who survive and thrive.”

The team recognised that a lot of people and a lot of organisations have a long way to go with this. So they have created simple messaging and content to help people start on their journey to inclusive workplaces. Rachel Pearson said “people engage with content in a variety of ways. We worked hard on creating simple and impactful messages, interactive content including videos and e-learning, and we are working with clients on their communications to advise them and help them to be more inclusive.”

The team have already won new business with a variety of different types of organisations. They have delivered workshops on inclusive recruitment, run training sessions on unconscious bias, inclusive leadership, and inclusive communications, and they are currently working on a project to help with inclusive communications for a political party to connect with new audiences.

They work closely with their local community, running workshops for both Brighton and Worthing Chamber of Commerce and the Sussex Innovation Centre. They also run their own open workshops for individuals to join. They are becoming well-known in the community and regular speakers at events. They have become used to attending events online as speakers from their own homes. This has allowed them to speak at events across the country as there was no travel time to factor in.

2020 was a year where the team worked on campaigning on many issues which also got them lots of attention, with a TV and radio appearance. They aim to continue campaigning and speaking at events and to the press. Mo said “with so many inequalities in our society, last year highlighted the need for flexible working practices, for diverse teams and for parents to be able to work and care for their children. Those needs are not going away. Women have been impacted by the pandemic and people of colour are still not routinely represented in leadership, for example. We will continue to work for the world we want to see.”

As restrictions start to ease later this year, the team are looking forward to more in-person meetings, events and workshops. They will continue to offer online content and events as they can see that this is a way to help people access their content easily.

The team were delighted to be nominated for a County Busines Clubs award in December. Allegra said “after a tough year for everyone, we had worked so hard on the new business, so it was amazing to be nominated for an award in recognition of our work”.

For more information contact:
www.watchthisspace.uk
hello@watchthisspace.uk