Managing Me, Managing ADHD

Insights on managing and being managed when ADHD is a factor

April 12, 2024 • 16 min read • General

What is ADHD?

Whenever the topic of mental health comes up, I always find that it's important to cover the basics. ADHD is an initialism for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

In short, it causes the brain to function differently. Research has shown that those with ADHD often have brains that are structured differently and that we can have imbalanced neurotransmitter levels.

What is it like to have ADHD?

This is my own personal experience, ADHD tends to vary a lot by individual.

I'm on medication now and have a number of coping mechanisms (more on those later) that I've developed over the years to handle my ADHD, but these are the top three ways that the condition has historically manifested for me within the workplace:

Task Motivation

I've found the easiest way to communicate ADHD to somebody that doesn't have it, is to get them to think of a time that they've been trying to get away from something in a nightmare.

You know what you need to do, the motivation and stress/panic is there. But what you see, think and want doesn't translate to action.

Then ask them to imagine that they're not trying to get away from a monster, or out of a burning building. But that they just need to do the washing up.

That analogy often gets a laugh, but it's absolutely true. We're not talking about the standard 'Oh I just don't want to do it' lack of motivation that's often a factor in household chores. We're talking about sitting at a desk, being unable to do anything for 10 minutes because you know you need to do the washing up, but when you think of the washing up you also remember that you said you would clean the shower last month, and that you need to clean your car after you drove on salted roads, and, and, and...

You get the idea... Hopefully.

Time Blindness

I'm pretty sure at this point that if I got to the afterlife and there was a dashboard showing statistics about your life, that 'sorry I'm late' would be my top spoken sentence.

It's not intentional, I promise. If I say I'll be there in 5 minutes, I mean it in the moment. If I set a meeting for 3PM, I want to be there at 3. But as a prime example of how this happens I sat down at 10:30 today to complete a task for a job application before I walked the dog.

Since 10:30, I've sent another job application, gone on a Support jobs board, saw a post asking about managing ADHD which gave me the idea for this article, fixed formatting on this website, written a resume section and implemented a contact method.

I still haven't walked the dog, it's now 15:50 - sorry Jerry.

I'm actually going to stop writing this now and walk him. This is actually one of my methods of managing ADHD. Writing what I need to do to force my brain to go 'you need to do that, right now'.

It's something that feels silly to do, let alone write. But it works.

Hyperfocus

Remember that time that you sat down and crunched out that thing you needed to do in one long sprint when it should have taken you days?

Now imagine that your brains two modes of focus are that, and none.

Welcome to ADHD.

The medication that I take (Methylphenidate Hydrochloride for the curious) helps to even this out so I can more casually focus on things, but it's something that I still have to conciously manage. The brain mode can also vary by the day, or by the hour.

When unmedicated there were ways I could mitigate the impact, but trying to focus when my brain wasn't in a focusing mood felt like I was constantly spinning my wheels. It led to immense frustration, both on my part and for those around me.

Managing ADHD

For those that have ADHD, especially in the modern world of constantly changing priorities and easily accessible distractions, coping mechanisms are essential. They help you to make the most of your work and personal lives.

I've been lucky enough to work in places that have an open-minded approach to neurodiversity, which have helped me refine these mechanisms over the years. I owe particular thanks to Tara Ryan the VP of People Experience at Monzo Bank. She befriended me early in my career at Monzo, and gave me a position on a Mental Health First Aid training course that not only helped me improve my own management style, but started my journey towards ADHD diagnosis.

This is a list of the coping mechanisms that I have found most effective, your mileage may vary.

Communication, Communication, Communication

Communication is always tricky, because it varies so much based on what you're doing, who you're speaking to and even where you are. But open and empathetic communication is essential to cope with ADHD. Those around you can't understand or help you with what they don't know.

As somebody who has historically been quite introverted when it comes to personal matters this is something that I'm still struggling with, but when I have spoken openly about my ADHD, it has always led to improvements in my personal and work life.

Setting a Schedule

I've always found comfort in the known. It's part of what makes me good at building out processes. To deal with Task Motivation I like to have certain parts of my life on a fixed schedule. As an example, when I wake up in the morning the first thing I do is have breakfast and a coffee.

It sounds basic, but for somebody with ADHD these small fixtures in the day really help me keep on track.

Audio Prompts

Late last year I got into building things using Raspberry pi's, as a part of my developer journey. I built this clock which I use to play around with coding concepts.

When it's not being used for that, it sits at my work desk. You can make it beep on the hour, every hour. Since putting it together, I've found that this audible reminder (that isn't connected to a phone, which can lead to further distractions) extremely useful.

I use it as a prompt to take a deep breath, take myself out of whatever I'm working on and think about what I'm doing as well as what I need to get done during the day.

The beep doesn't require dismissing, so if I'm concentrating on something particularly difficult, or I'm focusing on something that I need to get done I can easily ignore it. But it serves as a useful nudge to take a step back when I've become unfocused.

Exercise

I try to go to the gym 3 times a week. Monday, Wednesday and Friday (there's that schedule again). On the days I'm not at the gym, I take the dog for a walk before sitting down to work. As somebody that has spent most of his career working remotely, this not only gets me out of the house and socialising but also serves as a welcome 'circuit breaker' in what would otherwise by a full day inside.

Making sure my mind doesn't go into work mode the second I'm out of bed makes sure that I save that 'brain processing power' for when I start the work day.

Managing somebody with ADHD

Mental health awareness only seems to be improving (thank god), so there isn't as much stigma around conditions like ADHD as there used to be. But there are a number of people (myself included) that dealt with significant adversity as a result of ADHD behaviours while growing up (and in later life). These experiences can lead to those with ADHD to try and maintain a 'stiff upper lip' attitude.

It's important for you as a manager to make sure you clearly communicate your understanding and desire to work with your reports on issues that may be caused by ADHD.

So with that in mind, just like with personal management of ADHD we start with:

Communication, Communication, Communication

Every leader has heard the warning that being too friendly with their reports will cause trouble. Not only is this not a universal truth - I mean just think about how motivated you are to do something for a friend vs a boss who barks orders - but the message often taken away from the warning is 'don't let your reports talk about their personal lives'.

If you don't talk to your reports about their personal lives, you will find yourself being the last one told about anything that effects them, which means that you can't be effective as their manager because you will be acting only on what you can observe. What we observe is never the full picture.

There is a balance to be struck of course. But open, empathetic conversations with anybody you manage is essential, especially if they have ADHD (or show symptoms).

By creating an open empathetic atmosphere you can turn your 'Hey, how is that project going' message or meeting from something the person with ADHD fears (because they haven't found the focus needed progress as much as they think you want), to something they welcome (because they know you're giving them a nudge to help them keep on track).

Flexibility

If you're managing somebody with ADHD, you'll find flexibility is key to getting the best out of them. You should consider:

Flexible schedules (if your workplace supports them, if they don't - start having that conversation)

People with ADHD, as I touched on when I spoke about Hyperfocus, struggle to 'opt in' to focusing on a task. By not holding them to rigid working times you can give them the autonomy to work when they are at their most productive. This doesn't just apply to working hours though. It also applies to role responsibilities, have a conversation with your ADHD report about what their ideal day structure would look like. They may for example find it easier to do tasks in a certain order, by taking this onboard you can maximise their productivity and happiness at the same time. It's a win win.

Flexible responsibilities.

On the note of responsibilities... For me, what attracts me to roles that focus on creating productive internal cultures and delivering fantastic customer experiences is the fact that every customer is different, so you have to be constantly flexible in your approach. If you have somebody with ADHD, you typically won't get the best out of them if you keep them focused on a single, repetitive task over a long period of time.

Flexible Approach

All good managers have a 'component toolkit' of strategies that they use to delegate tasks and deliver updates. Most people will be familiar the scenario of sitting in a meeting, paying avid attention to what somebody is saying and nodding along then completely blanking on it when asked a question about what was just covered 5 minutes later.

This happens far more regularly for those with ADHD. If you have somebody with ADHD, make sure that you're not rushing through an update and encourage them to write things down as you cover topics.

If you're presenting a slideshow, avoid making the written content overly verbose. The ADHD mind often works on a principle of 'copy now, understand later', so making sure that your written as well as verbal language priortises accessibility will help you get the best out of your team member.

Flexible Check-ins

When being managed as somebody with ADHD, one of the most common frustrations was the mandatory manager check in. We all know the type, the meeting that's at a fixed time every single week and that happens regardless of whether there is anything to actually discuss. Both manager and managee turn up, have a chat and ultimately conclude that there isn't anything more to discuss before going back to work before the end of the time slot.

The manager without ADHD goes straight back to work. The ADHD team member spent at least the hour before being less productive, trying to think of conversational topics and spends the hour after trying to refocus back in on what they're meant to be doing.

I've found both as manager and managee, that unless mandatory check ins are required (performance management) or requested, that it's better to make these opt in. If you don't have anything that you need to discuss with the team member, check in with them at the beginning of the day and ask whether they have anything they want to cover in your check in, or whether they want to use the time to have a more general catch up. If they don't, then don't be afraid to cancel the check in!

Patience and understanding

The 'copy now, understand later' thought process can often lead to those with ADHD needing to ask for clarification after you've covered an agenda item. When your mind is trying to think of 5 things at once, it's easy to fall into the trap of not actually thinking about what is right in front of you.

As a manager, often trying to fit an update into a specific time frame this can cause frustration. But as managers, we need to manage by putting our teams first.

If you have somebody with ADHD on your team, make sure to schedule enough time to allow them to ask questions after each point or section. By planning the stops in ahead of time you'll avoid feelings of frustration that the team member will pick up on.

If you don't, the team member is likely to notice this frustration developing, causing them to feel intimidated and unwelcome.

Measureable Milestones

If you want to get the best out of a team member with ADHD making sure they know what they're working towards, how long they have to do it and what success looks like is essential.

I mentioned struggles with prioritisation. The more information that somebody with ADHD has to

Proactive Reward and Recognition

As a manager, hopefully this is something you're already doing. But it deserves a point here in the ADHD team member management advice regardless.

If the team members ADHD working habits are benefitting the business and your teams output, make sure to recognise them for it. Ask yourself questions such as:

Is it a specific instance of them going above and beyond?

If so, a tangible and personal display of appreciation can go a long way.

To this day when people ask me about the time I most felt recognised I tell them about Calum Clark. One of my first managers at Monzo.

After somebody called in sick I stayed up with another colleague until the early hours of the morning (we were both on 3PM - Midnight shifts originally) responding to customers. I was in a hyperfocus state so had plenty of energy, but we both did it without being asked and expecting no extra recognition. For us, it was part of the job of delivering the amazing customer support that Monzo is known for.

The next week, a box arrived at the door including a thank you card, chocolates and one of the recently released Star Trek magnetic deltas. In a single move Calum had shown me that he not only appreciated what I had done, but also that he listened to and cared about my interests.

Is it a broader pattern of behaviour?

The lack of individual task focus caused by ADHD can often lead to ADHD team members taking on tasks and solving problems that don't sit within their typical role responsibilities.

If this is the case for a member of your team, take it is an opportunity to create or recommend progression and skill development options for them.

As a manager that has coached multiple team members to become high performing managers and domain specialists I can testify to the long term returns of this strategy for businesses!

Onboarding Checklist

I'm concious that this post has covered a great deal of information. If you're onboarding a new team member with ADHD you may have read this far and feel a bit overwhelmed. Over the years I've developed an 'onboarding checklist' for new team members, developed through my experiences. I hope that you find it useful:

Implement any adjustments that they've asked for in the hiring process.
Have a 1:1 welcome meeting on their first day.
Check if they're comfortable sharing their ADHD with the wider team. Some aren't comfortable sharing this information!
Schedule in an opportunity for them to meet the team, base this around a social activity rather than 'tell me something about yourself' type questions.
Give team members an opportunity to speak to the new team member 1:1. Training/shadowing sessions are great team interaction opportunities, but you should also try to create time for them to have social conversations without you in the room/meeting.
Have a mid-week catch up to check in with them on how they're settling in.
Run your weekly team meetings as usual and invite them to them, but make it clear that they're under no pressure to get involved with any Q&A.
Have an end of week catch up, covering topics such as their ideal meeting/check in frequency.

This should make sure they settle in during the first week, after this you'll need to use your own judgement and the input of your new team member(s) to shape your approach going forward.

Wrapping Up

For most managers, the recommendations given in the Managing somebody with ADHD section are hopefully things that you're already doing. As general recommendations I've found this approach maximises team productivity and happiness.

Without meaning to sound rude, they're just even more important if you have somebody with ADHD (or who is otherwise neurodiverse) on your team. Not being neurotypical is tough in the modern working world. While mental health awareness is broadly improving, you must also consider the counter movements to this awareness. Major media outlets such as The Telegraph in the UK pump out articles punching down on those daring to consider their mental health just as important as their physical health. Bandying about harmful terms such as 'generation anxious' and 'generation sicknote' when referring to an entire demographic group of people.

Those who are neurodiverse are impacted and intimidated by these movements, which means that as a manager there is an even greater pressure on you to demonstrate your openness and empathy when welcoming a new team member onboard.

Only by doing this, will you make sure that your team is reaching their maximum potential.