Ensuring autistic employees thrive in the workplace

Bryan Stallings  at Lucid Software shares seven considerations for leaders to adapt the workplace for and empower autistic individuals

 

While business leaders are more aware of the need to produce a more equal playing field for neurodiverse employees, they are often unaware of the ways to do so.

 

With 15 to 20% of the world’s population being neurodiverse, and 2% diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), autism is far more common than people realise. It’s even estimated by experts that for every three adults diagnosed with ASD, there are another two cases left undiagnosed.

 

Within the workplace, some of that subset with ASD openly share their experiences of thinking and processing information differently with teammates, yet many still aren’t comfortable doing so and fear being typecast.

 

This indicates that managers and co-workers still lack an understanding of what builds an inclusive corporate culture that respects and values neurodiversity, in order to empower those with unique strengths to contribute fully.

 

As a parent of four neurodivergent children – two being autistic – the many years spent raising them have been the same years I’ve spent as a professional, leading technical teams of diverse individuals. I’ve seen first-hand one of many benefits of working with autistic individuals is their enhanced ability to focus on certain tasks and concentrate for a longer period of time.

 

In fact, research suggests that autistic employees are up to 140% more productive than their neuro-typical colleagues. What’s more, their different viewpoint and approach to problems helps firms be more innovative and dynamic in their approach to business. Applying insights from both environments led me to discover numerous tools and techniques to enable neurodiverse teams to work to their full potential, whether in the workplace or at home.

 

In the quest for improved worldwide neurodiversity acceptance, equality, and inclusion, businesses have to take more practical steps to creating a workplace where autistic individuals can share their needs and working styles without judgement.

 

The following actionable guidance is a step in the right direction:

 

1. Build bonds: Be intentional as a team about connecting with one another using multiple options for communication and developing a strong team identity. This encourages mutually-trusting relationships to develop and persist. Changes to team makeup should be rare. When change is a necessity, it is best to communicate the situation with plenty of advance notice to prepare individuals for the change.

 

2. Establish repeating patterns: Planning and executing work in iterations of a consistent duration can help to reduce confusion and anxiety. A simple pattern for a two-week period, for example, can orient those who otherwise struggle to organise and structure their work.

3. Create transparency: Using clear and concise language is useful at the best of times, but is particularly helpful in avoiding ambiguity when it comes to sharing the backlog of work items with the team, for example. Providing visibility of the tasks at hand allows diverse teams to be responsible for deciding how much of the backlog they will complete within the iteration.

4. Define success: The lack of a clear “finish line” or promise of an end result when working on a task can create unnecessary uncertainty and stress. Communicate the expectations and acceptance criteria by which the work items will be considered done.

5. Daily cadence: Convening a brief daily meeting as a team increases communication and can be used as a way of assessing progress towards the goals of the iteration, and determining adaptations to plans where needed.

6. Demonstrate outcomes: At the end of an iteration, teams should meet with stakeholders to demonstrate the valuable outcomes completed within that period. Training can be provided for managers about autism, strategies for overcoming potential interaction and communication challenges, and effective ways to provide feedback.

7. Inspect and adapt: Identify room for improvement regularly as a team by analysing the specific successes and struggles of the last iteration, and use those insights to  improve the next one.

 

Ambitions for an autism-friendly workplace

Elevating the conversation around inclusion of individuals on the autism spectrum is key to unlocking their capability for contribution to the long-term success of a business. Neurodiverse people are a growing demographic due to more people seeking and receiving diagnoses to better understand the various ways the human brain works.

 

Companies which may have previously struggled to attract, collaborate with and retain neurodiverse talent, are now adopting simple yet effective changes to everyday working patterns.

 

By building a work environment that is founded upon transparency, clear expectations, and room to develop, business leaders can support the unique strengths of autistic employees and help them reach their full potential.

 

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Bryan Stallings is Chief Evangelist at Lucid Software

 

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com