You’ve probably noticed that your team member thinks differently. Maybe they’re brilliant with systems but struggle in open-plan offices. Perhaps they ask surprisingly direct questions in meetings or need written follow-ups after verbal discussions. They might have disclosed a diagnosis—autism, ADHD, dyslexia—or you’re simply aware that traditional management approaches aren’t quite landing.
Here’s the thing: that difference isn’t a problem to solve. It’s information you can use to help someone do their best work.
The most effective managers of neurodiverse talent don’t focus on “fixing” challenges. They have genuine conversations about strengths, working styles, and environmental needs. Then they make targeted adjustments that benefit everyone.
Before the Conversation: Check Your Assumptions
Most managers approach these conversations with good intentions but unhelpful frameworks. You’re not conducting an intervention. You’re not accommodating a deficit. You’re learning how a talented person’s brain works so you can create conditions for them to excel.
Neurodiversity includes autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and other neurological differences. These aren’t disorders to manage around—they’re different operating systems. Each comes with distinctive strengths: pattern recognition, creative problem-solving, hyperfocus, detail orientation, innovative thinking.
Your job is to understand the specific person in front of you, not to apply generic assumptions about their diagnosis.
Setting Up the Conversation
Pick the right moment. Don’t wait for a performance issue. Make this part of how you understand all your team members. Frame it as a routine check-in about working preferences.
Choose the right environment. Ask where they’d be most comfortable talking. Some people think better while walking. Others prefer a quiet room with an agenda sent in advance. Many neurodiverse people appreciate knowing the conversation’s purpose beforehand—no surprises.
Start with strengths. Open with genuine observations about what they do well. “I’ve noticed you’re exceptional at catching edge cases in our testing process” or “Your documentation is consistently the clearest on the team.” This isn’t flattery—it’s establishing that you see their value.
Questions That Actually Help
The best conversations are collaborative, not diagnostic. Here are questions that tend to unlock useful information:
About their strengths:
– “What kind of work gives you energy rather than draining it?”
– “When do you feel like you’re working at your best?”
– “What problems do you find easiest to solve that others seem to struggle with?”
About their environment:
– “What physical environment helps you focus?” (lighting, noise levels, space configuration).
– “Do you work better with background activity or quiet?”
– “Are there times of day when you’re more productive?”
About communication:
– “How do you prefer to receive new information—written, verbal, visual?”
– “When you’re working through a complex problem, is it helpful to talk it through or think independently first?”
– “After meetings, is there anything that would help you process what was discussed?”
About workload and expectations:
– “When you’re juggling multiple priorities, what helps you stay organised?”
– “How much heads-up time do you need before context-switching to something new?”
– “Would it be helpful to know the purpose behind tasks, or do you prefer just getting clear instructions?”
About collaboration:
– “In team settings, what helps you contribute your best thinking?”
– “Are there types of meetings or interactions that are particularly draining?”
– “How can I make it easier for you to ask for what you need?”
What You’re Listening For
Pay attention to patterns, not just individual answers. You’re building a picture of how this person works optimally.
Someone might reveal that they produce their best work between 10 PM and 2 AM, but your rigid 9-to-5 culture is forcing them into their least productive hours. Another might be spending enormous energy on open-plan office distractions, leaving less capacity for actual work. Someone else might be missing crucial context because your team communicates important decisions verbally in hallway conversations.
These aren’t accommodations you’re grudgingly making. These are barriers you’re removing so talent can emerge.
From Conversation to Action
Once you understand someone’s working style, make specific adjustments:
Environmental changes: Noise-cancelling headphones, alternative workspace options, flexible hours, modified lighting. These cost little and can transform productivity.
Communication adjustments: Written meeting agendas in advance, follow-up emails after verbal discussions, clear deadlines with purpose explained, direct feedback rather than hints.
Project alignment: Match people to work that uses their strengths. The person who thinks in systems should be designing processes. The detail-oriented person should be doing quality assurance. The creative tangential thinker should be in innovation sessions.
Team norms: Many adjustments you make for one person—clearer communication, better documentation, thoughtful meeting structures—improve things for everyone.
What About Challenges?
Of course there will be difficulties. But address them as you would with anyone: clearly, specifically, and collaboratively.
“I’ve noticed deadlines are sometimes missed. Help me understand what’s happening” is better than assuming someone doesn’t care. You might discover they’re overwhelmed by ambiguous priorities or paralysed by perfectionism. Then you can problem-solve together.
The key is separating true performance issues from stylistic differences. Someone who asks “why are we doing this?” in meetings isn’t being difficult—they’re seeking the context they need to work effectively. Someone who doesn’t make small talk isn’t rude—they might be conserving energy for actual work.
Building on Strengths
The most successful neurodiverse team members often aren’t succeeding despite their neurodiversity—they’re excelling because of it. The autistic engineer who notices the pattern no one else saw. The ADHD creative who makes unexpected connections. The dyslexic designer who thinks spatially in ways that transform user experience.
Your role is to create conditions where these strengths can flourish while removing unnecessary friction.
This might mean protecting someone’s hyperfocus time from interruptions, letting someone write reports instead of presenting them, or allowing someone to contribute to brainstorms via a shared document rather than speaking up in the room.
The Broader Shift
Here’s what’s interesting: once you start managing this way—having direct conversations about working styles, making environment adjustments, playing to strengths—you’ll probably find it improves your management of everyone.
Neurotypical team members also have preferences, optimal environments, and distinctive strengths. They’re just often better at masking discomfort and adapting to suboptimal conditions. That doesn’t mean they’re thriving.
The conversation techniques that work for neurodiverse team members—direct, curious, focused on strengths, collaborative about solutions—are simply good management. You’re just being more intentional about it.
Moving Forward
Start with curiosity. Schedule time with team members specifically to understand how they work best. Make it normal to talk about these things. Create a team culture where people can say “I need quiet to focus on this” or “Can you send that in writing?” without apology.
Then watch what happens when talented people get to work in ways that match how their brains actually function.
The goal isn’t to help neurodiverse employees fit into your existing structure. It’s to build a team environment flexible enough that everyone can contribute their best work.
That’s not accommodation. That’s just smart management.
