Neurodiversity is brilliant!

Neurodivergent individuals offer magic and genius within an organisation and contribute to significant improvements in performance - when they are given what they need to thrive.

However, neurodivergent challenges can mean that highly competent individuals are often struggling to deliver their workload because there are so many other things affecting them which impact their capacity. 

Perceived underperformance (PUP for short) in neurodivergent individuals is a common challenge for leaders and managers within organisations.

Here are a few examples:

Delivery of work

PUP - Neurodivergent individuals may have peaks and troughs in their delivery of performance - at times appearing to under-deliver and at times appearing to over-deliver. 

Solution - Create flexibility to allow for variability in delivery consistency to help individuals and their managers to navigate the ups and downs with more ease.

Missing the mark

PUP - It may be that a colleague or team member seems to deliver great work but not what was requested. This may be a consistent pattern or perhaps the occasional one-off. 

Solution - Embracing different communication styles and taking time to establish understanding allows for clarity when setting up the scope of a piece of work or a role within a project.

Punctuality

PUP - Lateness is a common experience for many neurodivergent individuals despite their best attempts and a strong desire to be on time. 

Solution - Tweaking your expectations from wanting someone to do things the way you do them (and probably think is best!) and, instead, offering the conditions they need to do things in the way that is best for them will rapidly improve performance.

Lack of contribution

PUP - Teamwork makes the dream work - so they say! Involvement in teams and the associated need for social communication, collaboration, rapid processing speeds and flexibility of thought can be an intense demand on a neurodivergent individual’s internal resources while also, potentially, causing dysregulation in their nervous system. 

Solution - Many neurodivergent individuals still enjoy being part of a team. Create processes and structures within your team that allow for solitary working, reflection and processing time, flexibility within collaboration and idea-sharing, while establishing a culture of curiosity to reveal every team member’s preferences.

Increased awareness of neurodiversity and the different forms of neurodivergence is key to creating a more inclusive workplace

Here are some further aspects to consider: 

Culture of curiosity and safe sharing

Organisations that promote a culture of curiosity and safe sharing make it easier for employees to share their experiences, which in turn makes it easier for management to offer support.

Any individual, neurodivergent or not, welcomes open conversations that start from curiosity rather than starting with “There’s an issue, explain yourself!”. It’s this curiosity that helps us learn more about the person we’re talking to and the situation.

Framework for exploring underperformance

Effective feedback is a brilliant way to build trust and cultivate good working relationships. However, to do this in a way that supports neurodivergent employees, managers need to be willing to adapt their approach.

Managers need to see each employee as their own person with their own communication style, set of needs, interests and preferences.

A supportive and flexible framework for addressing underperformance should start with a conversation to explore if there has been a misunderstanding around specific expectations and to clarify if the individuals know the full extent of their role.  

Considering unmet needs and other personal challenges, whether at work or away from work, as potential reasons for perceived underperformance facilitates a curious exploration rather than a laser-focused investigation.

General management and leadership practices to embrace

Given a supportive environment, neurodivergent employees can often exceed performance expectations - good emotional intelligence, people skills and kindness are essential in their team members and colleagues.  

Poor management practices, such as unsupportive supervision, unclear communication and inflexible work policies can easily affect performance. When managers and leaders know their team well, they can identify employee interests and assess how their role does or doesn’t connect with those.

To do this, management has to take time to get to know each person individually because Neurodivergent expression varies among individuals and can change over time.  

Life outside of work can have a huge impact on performance, so building relationships where neurodivergent individuals feel safe enough to share aspects of their life is incredibly important.

In conclusion, suspected signs of underperformance may be indicators of other issues which may not be directly related to the work at hand. Management and leadership must create curious, safe and flexible workspaces, and organisation culture, to facilitate the significant improvements in performance that neurodivergent individuals often bring.

If you'd like to find out more about how neurodiversity training can support you and your teams, let's talk.