What’s a surefire way to support neurodiversity in the workplace?
We know that one used to be those 3 words: Access To Work.
But, anyone reading this will know that this government fund providing in excess of 60k plus of support to help individuals with disabilities in work is struggling to manage applications and meet demand.
So in this storm, where support is hard to reach, it means we need to get creative.
And while we’re getting creative, we might as well get sustainable, too, right?
As a workplace needs assessor, I’ve heard stories of organisations where over half of teams are receiving ADHD or neurodiversity coaching. I suspect that every one of those employees has a separate ADHD coach, too. That’s a lot of employee hours in coaching… and hard for the team to attain cohesion and doesn’t take into account the development needs of the manager.
Lean in, I want to tell you something… know what? There’s a way that’s just as good – in fact, we’re sure it’s a better way.
Ask for training. Specially for managers.
Yes. Get knowledge about neurodiversity and the opportunity to upskill management practices for leading teams in a neuro-inclusive way.
Here at Neurodiversity Specialists we’ve been busy building just the training to help managers manage their direct reports, whatever their neurotype.
We’ve developed it so that it’s not just kept a dark art for the managers who are already in the know how their direct reports need to be managed.
Here’s what we’ve designed that may take up to 4 days in a manager’s working year, sure, but will ultimately be a time-saver.
Firstly, there’s mandatory half day Neurodiversity Awareness.
Onto this foundational information, we then build your learning with Neuro-inclusive Management Practices. This will consider issues such as disclosure and support across the lifecycle, through to resources, and reasonable adjustments.
We don’t leave it there. Our half day focus on management practices will help you expand your feedback skills, your communication strategies, while setting boundaries and managing performance through strengths-based approaches and fostering greater team cohesion.
We consider these 2 half days to be the bare minimum training need for your managers to run effective neurodiverse teams.
But, you know what? we don’t stop there.
We recommend supporting managers with group peer-peer coaching. Working like Action Learning Sets, these will help managers bring real-world cases, their challenges and successes, along with questions to the group. Facilitated by us, we’ll support managers grow through accessing these sessions of collaborative learning and opportunities for reflective practice. Because solutions-focused isn’t just about attending training and getting the info… it’s about experimenting with the techniques and developing insight into what’s been working. The ability to network and draw on an extended knowledge and skill bank continues for up to a year – so we don’t leave you all alone (unless you want this!) and can even offer 1:1 support or group support for individuals that need it.
If you’d like to explore how to become the best manager you can be, saving your team from feeling fractured or in need, instead helping them celebrate their difference and recognise that everyone has needs, then email us today.
We’d love to help you with your leadership and management development and look forward to working with you on Neuroinclusive Management Practices.
It’s your journey and we’ll cheer you on – all the way.
Emma A
