7 ways to help your neurodiverse team deliver its best work
“About
10%
of
the
worldwide
population
is
estimated
to
have
alexithymia,”
explains
Duckworth.
“This
is
an
emotional
perception
deficit
that
commonly
coexists
with
autism,
ADHD,
and
anxiety
disorders.
“About
10%
of
the
worldwide
population
is
estimated
to
have
alexithymia,”
explains
Duckworth.
“This
is
an
emotional
perception
deficit
that
commonly
coexists
with
autism,
ADHD,
and
anxiety
disorders.”
Emotional
perception
can
have
a
huge
impact
on
the
way
your
team
communicates,
though.
Duckworth
offers
an
example:
Duckworth
offers
an
example
from
another
company
that
had
many
brilliant,
autistic
engineers.
All
of
them
raised
a
red
flag
that
something
in
the
stack
was
broken.
“But
because
they
had
a
very
flat
affect
in
the
way
they
were
communicating
that
challenge,
the
people
on
their
team
didn’t
address
it
appropriately.
They
didn’t
realize
how
severe
the
issue
was,”
she
says.
This
emotional
communication
breakdown
can
happen
between
people
of
different
genders,
cultural
backgrounds,
and
neurotypes,
too.
“We
are
trained,
neurologically,
to
interpret
emotions
by
comparing
them
to
people
like
us,”
she
explains.
“So,
if
we’re
speaking
to
someone
that
doesn’t
have
our
same
vocal
tone
patterns
to
convey
emotions,
we
often
misinterpret
them
and
may
not
realize
it.”
4.
Document
expectations
and
action
items
One
simple
step
that
helps
every
neuro
type
—
and
takes
the
onus
of
asking
for
an
accommodation
off
neurodiverse
people
—
is
to
practice
good
hygiene
around
work
expectations
and
the
action
items
that
arise
in
meetings.
Use
daily,
weekly,
or
monthly
checklists
to
make
your
expectations
clear
and
easy
to
reference.
And
write
out
action
items
in
the
meeting
chat
or
a
shared
document
during
the
meeting.
“Having
clear
goals
and
a
checklist
of
things
you’re
supposed
to
accomplish
between
check-ins
is
important,”
says
Pelletier.
“People
with
autism
or
ADHD
also
sometimes
have
auditory
processing
disorders
so
they
miss
part
of
the
conversation,
or
it
takes
them
longer
to
process
what
you’re
saying.”
That
checklist
becomes
an
easy
source
of
truth,
viewed
by
both
parties,
that
can
prevent
misunderstandings
and
keep
people
on
track.
“It’s
another
way
to
be
sure
you
are
on
track,
which
is
huge
for
someone
with
ADHD,
anyone
who
struggles
to
prioritize
their
time,
or
who’s
on
the
autism
spectrum
and
who
may
come
out
of
conversations
without
clarity,”
says
Pelletier.
5.
Offer
a
written
version
of
meetings
and
agendas
A
simple
way
to
address
a
wide
range
of
needs
is
also
just
good
meeting
hygiene.
“Make
meetings
more
friendly
for
neurodivergent
people,”
suggests
Pelletier,
“by
putting
out
an
agenda
ahead
of
time.
This
gives
people
a
chance
to
read
it,
think
about
it,
process
it,
and
prepare
for
the
meeting.”
Also
turn
on
captioning
in
meetings
and
make
a
transcription
of
it
readily
available.
This
helps
anyone
with
an
auditory
processing
disorder
overcome
the
difficulty
of
following
meetings
that
are
audio
only.
If
you
make
this
standard
operating
procedure,
neurodiverse
people
for
whom
auditory
processing
is
a
challenge
won’t
have
to
ask
for
anything.
And
those
tools,
though
often
intended
for
people
who
are
hearing
impaired
“are
also
helpful
for
people
in
a
noisy
environment,
on
their
commute,
who
have
kids
in
the
background,
speak
English
as
a
second
or
third
language,
and
for
lots
of
other
reasons,”
says
Pelletier.
It’s
even
helpful
for
people
who
simply
prefer
to
glance
over
meeting
notes
for
an
idea
or
task,
rather
than
rewatch
a
video
or
listen
to
a
recording.
6.
Take
a
break
from
meetings
One
thing
15Five
does
to
provide
a
more
neurodivergent-friendly
workplace
culture
is
to
have
a
day
without
internal
meetings,
Pelletier
says.
Most
people
on
your
team
will
appreciate
the
uninterrupted
time
as
well
as
a
day
where
they
don’t
have
to
dress
up,
wear
makeup,
or
be
social.
But
for
some
neuro
types,
this
is
huge.
“For
many
autistic
people,
video
conversations
are
mentally
and
emotionally
taxing,”
explains
Pelletier.
“Many
autistic
people
have
a
difficult
time
matching
their
facial
expression
with
their
emotions.
Behind
the
scenes,
there
is
another
track
where
I’m
thinking,
‘Fix
your
face
so
you
look
engaged.
Don’t
look
angry
or
upset.
Look
into
the
camera.
Don’t
spend
a
lot
of
time
looking
away.
It’s
like
when
you
watch
a
duck
go
across
the
water.
You
see
only
the
bird
gliding
on
top.
What
you
don’t
see
underneath
is
the
feet
paddling
like
hell.
If
I
can
turn
the
camera
off,
all
I
have
to
do
is
close
my
eyes,
focus
on
what
I
hear
you
saying,
and
try
to
interpret
the
tone
of
your
voice.
I
don’t
have
to
worry
about
what
is
my
face
doing.”
Video
calls
can
sometimes
be
necessary
or
desirable.
But
often
they
aren’t.
“Provide
the
grace
and
flexibility
to
allow
people
to
show
up
in
a
way
that’s
going
to
be
most
productive
for
them
at
that
time,”
says
Pelletier.
“Sometimes
tiny
adjustments
like
that
make
a
huge
difference
for
people.”
7.
Get
some
training
“Education
is
the
foundation,”
says
Amazon’s
Greene-Thompson.
The
actions
you
take
in
your
role
as
leader
are
important
to
the
success
and
productivity
of
a
wide
range
of
neuro
types.
We
all
know
only
our
own
way
of
seeing
and
interacting
with
the
world.
But
ours
might
not
match
what
others
experience.
To
discover
what
you
don’t
already
know,
you
have
to
study.
Read
about
neurodiversity.
Invite
speakers
to
give
presentations.
Take
a
class.
“The
more
you
understand,”
says
Greene-Thompson,
“the
more
you
see
that
your
lived
experience
is
only
your
own
perspective.
But
how
do
we
understand
the
lived
experience
of
another?
How
do
we
make
the
work
environment
more
accommodating,
equitable,
and
inclusive
for
everyone?
We
start
with
education,
training,
presentations,
through
accessing
the
latest
research,
and
in
seeking
out
subject
matter
experts
in
this
field.”
This
effort
usually
has
benefits
beyond
your
neurodiverse
team.
“We
find
that
managers
start
to
think,
‘This
is
going
to
work
for
everybody!’
If
I,
say,
start
asking
what
is
your
communication
style
or
how
can
I
support
you
best.
For
a
neurodivergent
individual,
it
might
be
one
thing.
For
a
working
parent,
it
might
be
‘Can
I
start
at
10
am?
Can
we
schedule
meetings
at
11?’”
Everyone
is
different.
When
you
learn
about
these
differences,
you
might
discover
people
are
struggling
with
something
that’s
easy
to
change.
“When
we
recognize
that
everybody’s
showing
up
uniquely
and
support
them
delivering
their
best
work,”
says
Greene-Thompson,
“we
are
much
more
inclusive.”
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