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Alright… Let’s Dive in!

I was anxious as fxck when I became a manager for the first time, despite being diagnosed with ADHD years later.

The idea of management is one of my favourite concepts. I’ve read a lot of self help, personal development books on this and I find this fascinating, I’m a big fan of Peter Drucker.

What is management?

“The process of planning, organising, leading and controlling resources - including people, finances and information to achieve organisational goals efficiently and effectively”

In this post we’ll discuss the seven management tips that have helped me cope with line management having ADHD.

1) Listen more: 👂

You’ve probably heard this many times: we have two ears and one mouth for a reason.

As someone with ADHD, I have a tendency to interrupt conversations a lot!. I’m fully aware that this might appear rude and condescending. 

I promise I don’t mean to be, it’s just an impulse control thing. So when speaking to members of the team in my 1-2-1 conversation, a technique I do is:

• Remotely: I squeeze a stress ball when the other person is speaking

• In person: I stroke my mustache (top of my lip) with my index finger.

The above are reminders that it’s not my turn to speak. Granted, it doesn't stop me from interrupting at all but it definitely helps reduce the amount of interruptions.

2) Structure: Agendas ⛩

Prior to each meeting or 121’s with the team members, I tend to share a document/agenda with them for any topics that we need to discuss about. 

This document is populated by myself and the individuals.

It helps for the following reasons:

• Intentionality of the meeting/catchup

• Making the best use of time

• Avoids going off topic → which is something I can do easily 

• Avoid missing the mark

3) Keeping Records 📝

I once heard the saying “if it’s not documented, it didn’t happen”!

Due to the nature of how my mind works, sometimes I might forget a thing or two.

The purpose of documenting things is really not to catch anyone out at all. It’s to enable me to:

• Be held accountable by,

• Keeping a record of something at a point in time,

• Enabling me to focus on something else (task switching),

• So when I revisit the topic, it’s ready to hand

• Enabling me to pick up from where I was, without thinking too hard about it

My team have a shared document where we all insert our tasks for the days and week ahead. 

This is then circulated to make everyone aware as a team what we’re up to and ultimately, for accountability purposes.

‘Small leaks sink big ships’ With this I have to stay on top of things like a rash!

4) Write the scripts 🎬

Please don’t judge me on this, this is gonna sound bizarre🤦‍♂️…

Every now and then the anxiety symptoms creep in. 

Prior to meetings with my team members, I’ll bullet point a few ‘small talk’ topics to discuss. I do this to help me ease into the conversations with them. For example:

• “How was your weekend?” 

• “Did you watch the football/soccer?”

On the handful of occasions that I’ve done this, I’ve discovered that you have more in common with people than you realise. 

This has helped me foster stronger working relations with my team members, enabling us to weather the busy periods in together. 

5) Delegate: 🧭

It took me a very long time to understand this concept.

During the early years of management, I wanted to do everything by myself, not from a selfish perspective. The idea was I can count on my own work.

As times got busier, I knew it was impossible to do everything by myself, for the below reasons:

• Increased stress

• Risk of burnout → as a result of overworking

• Poor results/deliverables → Jack of all trades and getting nothing done well.

I understood that the best managers have mastered the art of delegation.

As a manager, you have to identify which team member is best suited to take on the additional tasks based on their skill set. 

First, I’ll ensure I have understood what is required, then ensuring the instructions are clear as possible for someone to pick up and follow.

Since I’ve started delegating, I’ve seen the below results:

• Been less stressed 

• Have more time to hyperfocus and do deep work on other tasks that tickle my fancy

• Team members also growing in confidence as they take on more work.

6) Regular Check-ins 📞

As per above points, I’ve always had weekly 121’s with the team members reporting into me. 

Having regular check-ins with the team members is helpful for many reasons:

• Helps me (as the manager) understand how they’re progressing 

• Provides opportunity to ensure goals are clear

• Fosters relationships

• Shows the team, that I’m approachable if they need a hand with anything

7) Moral support and Empathy 🎗

In addition to point 6. 

At the end of the day: 

• We’re dealing with human beings, not robots. 

• We all have our personal challenges (be it personal or professionally)

I use my 121’s with the team members to also offer support where needed. 

I once had someone in my team who was religious, and I understood and respected that it was important to this individual. 

They requested to work 100% remotely during a fasting period. To which we agreed.

I trusted that they were competent to do their job and we had agreed on our deliverables.

Things like this helps build positive work environment. 

With that said, it’s crucial to balance this empathy with appropriate boundaries to avoid being emotionally overwhelmed.

Next Week

We’ll do a part two on management and how Neuro divergents should manage upwards.

Stay Tuned

The ADHD Exec 

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Disclaimer: I am not your psychiatrist, coach, doctor. Neurodiverse Diaries does not provide medical services or professional counselling and is not a substitute for professional medical care. Everything I publish represents my opinions, experience, not advice.