What neurodivergent employees can reveal about how work really works

Finding the details of a single task at Candour used to mean checking a spreadsheet, opening project management software and then updating another spreadsheet to record the time spent on it. The system had worked when we were a much smaller business but as we grew it became increasingly cumbersome. It took feedback from colleagues with ADHD or autism to make us rethink how we were organising work.

That feedback came through our neurodiversity employee resource group (ERG). We're a digital agency of fewer than 30 people, where much of our work is charged by the hour, so inefficient processes have a direct financial cost. What started as conversations about the difficulties some colleagues experienced has led us to change how we plan tasks, run meetings and share information. And the benefits have extended well beyond the employees who first raised the problems.

How the neurodiversity ERG uncovered wider work problems

We carried out a team survey in which we discovered that many people thought they were alone in experiencing points of friction in their work. Teammates could see the outcome of each other’s efforts, but had no idea of the challenges they may have overcome to get there, or the support they’d had along the way.

By creating a safe space for people to share worries and challenges together, we immediately opened the door for honest conversations and reassurance. Within these, we also carved out dedicated time to spot any recurring issues that could be resolved through procedural change.

What changed when employees identified process problems

An inconvenient or frustrating process may be a minor gripe to some team members but a genuine accessibility issue for others. By inviting discussion on the pain points neurodivergent people experienced in their everyday work, our ERG helped us to spotlight areas for improvement within everything from daily task scheduling to handling client calls.

Replacing fragmented task systems with flexible planning

For colleagues with ADHD moving between a scheduling spreadsheet, project management software and a separate time log was creating avoidable distraction and frustration. Visual context switching led to important details being missed or forgotten, and the presence of a host of unrelated information when finding a task in one place or the other led to time spent stuck in analysis paralysis. Heading to a third location to log time was an inefficient step that had worked as a solution when the team was in single figures but quickly became impractical as the studio grew.

Following discussions about what different people in the team wanted and needed we migrated to a whole new task management system. We looked for a solution that allowed people to view and manage their tasks in a way that best worked for them. This meant:

• Retaining a calendar-style view that was visually similar to the historic spreadsheet, making the change easier for autistic colleagues and those who simply prefer that format
• Gaining the option of Kanban, Gantt and timesheet views for those who find these easier to navigate, as well as the simple task-list-by-due-date view our previous software had offered
• Multiple options for time logging, from managing this within the calendar view, on each individual task or from the task list and timesheet
• The introduction of task reminder notifications ahead of important deadlines, with each team member able to choose the frequency and format that helped them stay on track without creating a sense of constant interruption

The simple shift to having an automated reminder option was born from ERG discussions around the feeling of shame that can arise from being reminded in-person in a team meeting, and the even greater shame of realising you have forgotten to complete a task. By finding a system that allows people to set their own reminders, the software can send these prompts quietly and directly – keeping people on track on their own terms.

The outcome: a reduction in missed deadlines, reduced time logged against admin itself, an improvement in team morale shown in staff surveys, and self-reported feelings of greater control and autonomy over how our team structured their days.

How meeting agendas and AI transcripts improved communication

For colleagues with autism, ADHD and other conditions such as anxiety disorders, feedback was that both internal and external meetings were arriving with pain points. Issues highlighted included:

• Invites being sent without an agenda or context beyond the meeting title
• Fears of forgetting important information when trying to actively participate in a meeting while also taking thorough notes

For neurotypical attendees these things were a low-level frustration – and so they weren’t being raised as a problem to be solved. But some people with autism need additional time to prepare and organise their thoughts before an action or activity, which isn’t possible when an agenda hasn’t been shared. For people with ADHD staying focused and fully processing information while listening, writing and speaking can be a real challenge.

By introducing AI transcription tools and making meeting agendas on invites mandatory, we saw an immediate improvement in meeting outcomes. Discussions were easier to manage, attendees arrived better prepared, and post-meeting actions and follow-ups weren’t being forgotten. The added benefit of AI transcription tools has been that even ‘less important’ details are all stored for future reference.

We have lost count of the number of times it has been useful to look back through a client call to check a specific fact or figure that has shifted in priority since the meeting was held.

Adapting task briefs and training for different working needs

In any team there will be a range of different preferences and styles when it comes to communication and learning. Some people are more visual, others prefer in-depth written reference, some want you to focus on the key information while others benefit from the big picture that surrounds it.

Discussions around pain points in our ERG sessions highlighted a range of issues where the way we worked wasn’t supporting everyone equally. And as someone who lives with ADHD myself I knew that the solution was not forcing square pegs into round holes.

We held team training for the company as a whole to improve awareness of different communication styles and options that improved understanding across the board, for example:

• If someone more confident sharing information in writing needs to deliver feedback to someone who prefers to receive it verbally, scheduling a quick call to run through the feedback before sharing the written notes covers both bases
• If someone who needs the big picture is working on a task with someone who only cares about the key details at hand, the task brief may be kept as succinct as possible but feature additional links out to related information – or be accompanied by a 15 minute check-in call to explain the bigger picture before work commences

Feedback from neurodivergent teammates was also the driving force behind the expansion of our internal library of task explainers, templates and examples. Though many of our client tasks require custom formats, there is almost always a suitable base to build those from. For colleagues stuck in decision paralysis if they have to choose between a range of applicable templates or are told to do whatever they think is best, stipulating a template to start from in the task brief avoids this issue.

Another big time-saver at a management level has been the introduction of automations to convert training session recordings into step-by-step documentation. For those who benefit from written references, clear screengrabs and similar features in training guides, we don’t need to spend hours manually going through a task to collect images of tools and processes at different stages and manually explain each next step. By recording live video training sessions held to ensure real-time Q&A availability and interactive learning, we can convert these into different formats to suit different needs through purpose-made software.

What HR can learn from neurodivergent employees about work design

Be curious about how one person’s preferred way of working can benefit the wider organisation. Too often I hear of businesses treating reasonable adjustments as an individual thing. Of course everyone has their own specific needs and not everyone in your team will need a visual timer or an extended weekly 1-to-1 to do their best work – but whether your team is 20 people or 2,000, something one person needs is likely to be needed elsewhere.

Making adjustments shouldn’t be done as a bare minimum act to meet your legal requirements. Teams that feel seen, heard and respected are more likely to stay and to engage with change management and to take care and pride in their work. So make room for that. Offer anonymous feedback solutions, dedicate time to employee resource groups and two-way communication channels between the teams delivering for your business and the leaders in charge of policy and process.

Our project management software shows that we’ve saved thousands of pounds worth of working hours since we began the ERG thanks to better communication and person-centred planning options. And, we’ve recently achieved Great Place to Work status. If you don’t know what’s creating friction in your team, the solution is simple: ask them, and act on what they say.