The structure of work through the lens of inclusion

Who is your current work structure really designed for and who is being penalised?

In most operational based workplaces, the “structure of work” feels fixed: rosters, shift patterns, reporting lines, handovers, processes and procedures, meetings, communication channels, approval flows. We inherit them and we optimise within them. 

Most structures are also built for the “average” employee who works a standard roster with “normal” start and end times every day.

But every structure creates winners and losers, people whose work is made easier, or it suits their circumstances, and people who do a heap of logistics in the background to make it work. 

Inclusion flips this, by encouraging us to design for the edges first (contractors, night shift, carers, new starters, culturally and neuro-diverse teammates). If it works for the edges, it will work for the centre.  If you want more inclusive performance, you need to understand the trade-offs you are creating clearly and know when to change the rules.

What is “structure of work”?

It’s the default settings that shape how work gets done:

• Time: rosters, start/finish times, breaks, lead time for changes,
• Flow: handovers, approvals, who decides what, where bottle necks and work arounds live,
• Relationships: reporting lines, who meets whom (and how often), who gets communication and information first,
• Communication: channels used (radio, Teams, email), who’s in the loop and who isn’t.

These defaults quietly decide who gets to influence the structure of work  and who is working within it.  

Inclusion test: Who benefits and who gets penalised (even unintentionally)?

Try this quick map across your site or team:

• Convenience & control: Who gets schedules that match their life? Who can say “no” or reset timeframes without interpersonal risk?
• Access & information: Who hears about changes early with context? Who gets last-minute direction and wears the scramble?  
• Job control: Who influences what happens in the work environment and makes decisions about how the work is done?
• Recognition & development: Who gets the visible jobs, acting roles and receives credit for ideas in front of the team? Who keeps the wheels turning invisibly?

If the same groups “win” across categories, your structure is skewed even if the culture feels “good”.

Signals it’s time to change the structure (not just work harder)

1. Workarounds everywhere (shadow spreadsheets, side chats, “just text me”),
2. Decision latency (simple approvals stall; urgent and reactive becomes normal),
3. Meeting bloat (people attend to “stay in the loop” because the loop is broken),
4. Uneven opportunity (same names get development; others stuck in business as usual; nothing changes),
5. Edge friction (contractors, night shift, new starters forever catching up),
6. Safety tells (near misses tied to handovers, fatigue, role confusion),
7. After-hours creep (email at night becomes expectation, not exception),
8. Psychosocial strain. Rising friction, silence, “just get it done” pressure, 
9. Customer/production rework. Fixing the same problems over and over because the flow makes the right thing hard.

If more than two resonate, you’re paying a structure tax in time, trust and outcomes.

Three inclusion lenses to test the level of inclusion:

1) Value: Does this setting reduce rework and support safe, quality output or just preserve control?
2) People: Who can contribute at their best under this setup and who is excluded or left outside of the circle?
3) Risk: Does the flow make the right thing easy under pressure or rely on heroes?

Fail two lenses? Something needs to change.

Changing structure safely 

You don’t need a re-org. You need targeted experiments with guardrails focusing on one constraint at a time.  Try these to make changes that support inclusion, not deplete it.

Add “inclusion gates”: Before finalising a change, ask: Who gains? Who loses? What’s our mitigation? Adjust or resource accordingly.

Build sunset clauses: Every new practice expires unless it proves value across the lenses. Default back if it doesn’t.

Close the loop every time: “Here’s what we tested, what we learned, and what we’re doing next.” Trust lives in the follow-through.

Not sure where to start?  Here are two practical examples to implement right now

Meetings that include: Rotate chair/speakers; schedule across shifts monthly; publish decisions & owners within 24 hours.

Development by design: Track acting roles and high-visibility tasks by shift, gender, employment type and location; rebalance quarterly.

Structures aren’t neutral they are choices. Viewed through the lens of inclusion, you’ll see who your work design serves and who it penalises. 

Change one rule at a time on purpose and you’ll lift performance, safety and belonging together.