I'm a huge fan of Dr. Nancy Doyle's writing, and this piece I found exceptionally nuanced and resonant.
"We need to explore the psychodynamics of cognitively diverse teams and how standard practices, or implicit social rules can make or break their functioning"
Communication differences are at the core of a lot of workplace issues. Understanding one another comes with an understanding that core assumptions about communication might not apply in neurodiverse (NT & ND) teams. I've often been perceived as calm when I'm struggling or being political, when I'm being accurate.
Something that came up in our last neurodiversity and mental wellness catch up was the process of implementing supports, followed by a check in as to how the supports were working and adapting them. Understanding of neurodivergent and neurotypical needs require regular maintenance. When a role is rehired, the support process needs to be documented and carried on.
So many times neurodivergent staff are left to self-advocate, detail, and construct their own supports in their own time, and then have these measures put up for veto by management as if they were in an episode of Dragon's Den. Frankly, this is not good enough. Managers need to work with neurodivergent staff (and vice versa) to optimize the workplace for all. Establishing structure, support, and developing clear communication is important to optimize the workplace equitably.
“If you want neurodiverse creativity and insight in your business, you will need to provide the right scaffolding and structure. It’s about designing a fair system, equitable distribution of tasks and resources and making sure that people are heard.”
Something that came up from a friend in software engineering, is a personal user manual for team members. Appliances have care instructions as to how to operate them so why do we play a guessing game with co-workers rather than asking directly? The personal user manual describes the best ways to communicate, encourage and engage and educate each other, and can be a living document that you can add to and change over time. Rather than being prescriptive, it is another way of finding information about how we engage with each other. Julie Zhao (author of bestseller Making a Manger) has an example template on her blog and you can find an alternative by Cassie Robinson here.
I love the idea of a personal user manual. We have done a very similar exercise as an ice breaker at team meet ups (or introducing / starting a large project), but never formalized it or wrote it down. I found the exercise really helpful and eye opening - and not only for neurodivergent staff. Person A really responded well to instant messages and avoided their inbox, Person B found them really stressful and only wanted them used for emergencies, Person C really wanted a conversation, etc. It's as I keep hearing when talking about accessibility - making things more accessible to meet the needs of a specific group makes it more accessible for all.
Its a great personal exercise. And a great way to start a conversation that you might find tough.