Imagine, for just a moment, a roomful of lawyers, paralegals and legal staff forbidden from speaking. It’s not a lawyer joke – it’s one of a series of exercises that employees at Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP must complete during diversity workshops staged by the Anti-Defamation League.

There’s plenty to learn within any company about diversity and inclusion, and the ADL has figured out a way to teach this lesson in a memorable manner. For example, in the “Human Time Line” exercise, participants have to figure out how to communicate with each other and physically line up by order of firm seniority – all without speaking a word.

In other exercises designed by A WORKPLACE OF DIFFERENCE®, a program of the ADL’s A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE® Institute, participants explore “Conflict Triggers” where individual flashpoints are discussed openly in order to explore methods of effective responses to conflict.

The idea is that firm employees walk away with a greater sense of camaraderie and heightened morale. As a byproduct, the program enhances recruitment and promotion opportunities, improves client relations and customer loyalty and generally increases productivity. For more than 15 years, Gardere has required that attorneys and staff participate in the program during their first year of employment at Gardere, and the program now serves as a cornerstone for Gardere’s commitment to diversity.

“We are focused on encouraging and fostering diversity of thought, and creating a workplace that is truly inclusive,” says Managing Partner Steve Good. “This program has provided each of us with the tools and resources to better understand the needs of not only our colleagues, but our clients as well.”