Jeremy is a product manager at Sinch. He’s been working there for close to three years.
Before that he was a software developer for 10 years and built his own company that was acquired by Sinch. Sinch, is a global communications provider. Jeremy is autistic and has ADHD (AuDHD). He’s also the founder of Focus Bear, a focus enhancement app for AuDHDers.
How did Sinch accommodate your needs?
“I think one of the main things is being able to work from home for me, which means that I can set up an environment that is sensory friendly for me and I don’t have to worry about background conversations because there’s no one else here.”
Jeremy was given the opportunity to work from home which addressed many of his challenges like working in an open office, frequent travel, wearing a suit, and unstructured socialising. His manager Simone was also able to support other challenges.
“I’m really grateful to Simone for helping me to understand some of the office politics and making me aware of certain things that I should be aware of. (In some cases shielding me from things that otherwise might have gotten me into trouble).”
When neurodivergent staff feel supported, they often feel more comfortable and then become more productive.
“There is openness for people at whatever level, asking questions and providing ideas, and that’s really important for me.”
When respect and support from management is present then staff may feel safer to disclose their neurodivergence.
“I also like that I’m able to be honest about my neurodivergence and I’m not judged for it.
I’ve been quite public within the organisation and externally about my autism and my ADHD, and I’ve written a user manual for myself that I’ve shared with people.”
“This has really helped with some of the times when I come across as blunt. Now people understand that I’m not doing it because I’m a jerk. I’m doing it because I just sometimes forget social niceties overall.”
The mutual respect during the interview with Jeremy and Simone further highlighted the comfort and transparency that exists for Jeremy at Sinch.
Disclosure
As we have stated disclosure, is more likely to occur when a workplace is understanding and respectful to reasonable adjustments and celebrates diversity. Simone shared,
“At the start, when Jeremy first told me about his diagnosis, I asked him if he had anything that he wanted to share. At that point, he wasn’t comfortable sharing anything, which was completely fine, but as a manager, it can be quite challenging as you don’t know how best to accommodate your team member or what works to get the best out of them.”
Disclosure is an ongoing journey of discovery and starts with vulnerability and then depending on the response can be followed up with more information or very little. Where there is understanding and acceptance, that may help to build a trusting relationship.
“Then a couple of weeks later, Jeremy wrote a blog post [“How I deal with my ADHD symptoms”] and that was perfect. That’s exactly what I needed to support him and the team.”
Jeremy then chose to disclose his diagnosis to the entire business which helped support other staff who did not feel as comfortable to disclose as Jeremy. Simone added,
“because Jeremy posted his blog in a public forum, we were then able to have a really open discussion around it. I think it’s really important and really valuable to have those open and transparent discussions.”
Then Sinch took it a step further. Simone shared,
“One of the HR reps reached out asking what we can do to provide more awareness about neurodiversity. As an organisation, we’ve run quite a lot of awareness sessions on things like Indigenous rights and LGBTQIA and other areas of inclusion [but hadn’t yet on neurodiversity].”
First, they invited someone externally for training. Simone explained,
“We had a session with an external neurodiversity consultant who came in and spoke about some general neurodivergent principles.”
Then Jeremy was asked to put together a training session.
“I was invited to run a session with a colleague who is also neurodivergent. We were able to talk about what it’s like for us personally and some of the things that Sinch is doing well and some things that could be done differently. Like potentially having structured social events, more sensory rooms, body doubling sessions and other things like that. By being more visible that sparked some meaningful conversations.”
This leads to better understanding for all staff and the chance for a diverse workforce that thrives. Having disclosed to Simone, she was able to better understand and support Jeremy in unique ways.
“Now that I know how Jeremy’s brain works, I can be more accommodating. Rather than be upset that he’s missed or been late to a meeting, I’ll just ping him on Slack and he pops up within 2 seconds. I think the best teams are diverse teams, they lead to better outcomes from having those conversations [about accommodations and strengths].”
What are some of the best ways to work with neurodivergent employees?
Simone shared,
“For me it’s definitely about having that safe open space where people can have honest and important conversations.”
“We had already talked about things that Jeremy finds boring or struggles with, but as a business and manager, we still need to achieve the right business outcomes. So, I asked ‘What can we do to get [that work done]?’ He recommended that we do body doubling sessions, and even though I hadn’t heard of it before, we thought, all right, let’s try it out.”
What is body doubling?
Body doubling is a productivity strategy that can help people with ADHD stay focused to complete tasks. The body doubling role is to be present to support in as little way is needed to help the other person to get the work done.
“So the first one we had, we all got in a video call and I asked, Jeremy, how does it work? He explained that we all share our intention for the next 40 minutes, then we go on mute and we work for those 40 minutes.
After that, we all come off mute and we do a mini showcase of what we’ve achieved in that time period. I must admit the first time we did it, and actually, every time we’ve done it, I’ve found it incredibly useful as it forces you to focus on what you said you’d achieve in that time!”
Great for distractions
Simone shared,
“There’s always so many distractions. Whether that’s in the home or at the office, getting a cup of tea or I’ll just put the washing machine on before I start the next bit of work. Or an email or a Slack message pops up and you’re distracted again.”
“I found it held us all to account, as we have to do a showcase of what we achieved at the end of the session.”
“We now run monthly body doubling meetings and if there is something we find challenging to complete, we do it in a body doubling session. The whole team has found this really helpful and I’d definitely recommend it, especially in a hybrid working environment.”
Flexibility
Simone shared,
“I also think things like flexibility is invaluable, there’s not an expectation that Jeremy comes in every day. There’s not an expectation that I come in every day as well. It’s about having open conversations and adapting to everybody’s individual needs”. Jeremy agreed that “everyone benefits from flexible working hours and schedules.”
Universal design
Both Simone and Jeremy shared how most accommodations and changes are not just helpful for one person but for everyone. Jeremy shared,
“Everyone benefits from flexible working hours and schedules, and body doubling can be helpful for most people if there’s a difficult task that we might otherwise procrastinate around to complete. Some of the changes are universal design principles that might help everyone to do well in the workplace.”
Simone added,
“Being a mother, I couldn’t work full time if it wasn’t for being able to work remotely as well.”
Self-advocacy
Once Jeremy had disclosed about his neurodiversity, he then put together some internal training for all staff on how to work with neurodiversity. Jeremy shared,
“It was a partnership with HR that was offered to all teams.” “As Simone mentioned, there are some people who have had blowback from being public about their diagnosis at previous employers, and they weren’t comfortable with disclosing it publicly. Just knowing that we were out there meant that I’ve had people reach out to me directly, and we’ve started a private Slack channel where people who are neurodivergent can get support from each other.”
“Even if they are not ready at this stage to disclose to HR or to their colleagues, at least they’ve got other people that they can talk to within the organisation.”
“We have begun the process of formalising the group into an employee resource group, or ERG. Simone has also been working on an ERG around women’s empowerment.”
“Getting support from other neurodivergent people is helpful, whether they’re in the same workplace or not because there can sometimes be a puzzling situation of how I actually improve this situation, that a new perspective can advise you on.”
Enhancing neuro-inclusion in the workplace
Simone shared,
“It’s about open communication and empathy. The great conversations that Jeremy and I’ve had over time have helped in building trust and understanding.”
“As not all neurodivergent people are comfortable sharing their diagnosis, it’s about better training and better resources for managers. I think the next generation will be much better off because lots more people are being diagnosed and I know with my children, there’s lots of children at school that have individual learning plans and things like that. But as a manager currently, there’s not a lot of resources.
“For me, I know that I reached out to our HR about what support can I have because some of these conversations can be challenging. I know that I’m a much better leader now as a result of having a neurodivergent person as part of my team.”
“Going out to places that have lots of noise, alcohol and things like that [are challenging for Jeremy]. I have asked Jeremy how to make it easier for him because I want him to feel part of the team and not feel isolated. Being part of a team is really important to me.
Another example Simone shared,
“We organised a walk for staff because since working remotely, we have a bunch of people that work in the organisation that have never met each other. The walk was awesome! We had people from different levels within the organisation and different business units. We got lots of great positive feedback like ‘I spoke to this person, I’ve never talked to them before. Now coming into the office, more people are talking to each other, it’s really helped to break down siloes across business functions.’”
“it’s about consideration for how you build a team and how you build a strong team culture in an environment that’s hybrid and neurodiverse.”
