The return of face-to-face meetings: creating an inclusive environment for people with neuroatypia

Reading time: 9 minutes

Switch off your brain and prepare to die of boredom! Face-to-face meetings are making a comeback, so let’s take a look at how to deal with the situation. We suggest you rethink how to optimize your work, rather than reverting to old habits.

“What? But we already know how to handle those, that’s how it worked before!”

Um… really?

It’s true that we’ve had a few setbacks when meetings went virtual, but we’ve also benefited from certain advantages. So why would we want to go back when we can do better?

We’d managed to shorten meetings, find ways to make them more dynamic and take advantage of the technologies available. Now let’s see how we can make face-to-face meetings just as interesting, but above all inclusive!

The return of face-to-face meetings: positive for everyone?

Some people have found telecommuting to be a very fulfilling experience. So how do you convince people to leave their comfort zone and go to the office for a face-to-face meeting? It’s quite a challenge!

Most people know there’s another way of doing things, and that way has worked for 2 years. If we’re going to go back to the office, it has to be more appealing than the possibility of wearing our soft pants, snacking at all hours and having our pets as co-workers.

This new type of meeting and the freedom to adapt one’s workplace to one’s home have benefited a very special profile of people: neuroatypicals. Why would these people want to leave the place where they feel comfortable to put their mask back on? They’d been hiding for so long, and some were simply miserable.

Neuroatypical people: who are they?

Who are neuroatypical people?

“When I was little, we didn’t know about these things.
We were either normal, weak, stupid or weird.
Except that my intuition told me there was an explanation
behind some people’s behaviors.”

Ruth Stanley

Neuroatypical people’s brains work differently from most people’s, as they operate at the upper or lower ends of the normal cognitive function curves. Sometimes this makes it easier for them to perform certain tasks, and sometimes it doesn’t.

Neuroatypical” is a catch-all term that includes a host of variations that differ from the norm. What’s more, a person can live with several of these variations at the same time. The best-known are high potential (giftedness, high intellectual potential), ADHD (attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity) and autism. Among the lesser-known are dyslexia, dyspraxia and hypersensitivity. The list goes on, and neuroscientific advances continue to uncover new characteristics.

Neuroatypical people at work

These hidden differences have repercussions at work. You can’t see them simply by looking at people, and adults (especially if they’ve managed to break into the job market) have learned to mask their differences. This mask eats away at their energy and limits their ability to participate fully in activities, meetings or workshops at work.

Even if it goes largely unnoticed, a large number of people are surprisingly affected – around 1 in 7 or 1 in 4, depending on the source. As science evolves, we know a little more about how the brain works, the criteria for detection become more refined, and more people are discovered to be affected.

Creating an inclusive workplace: a win-win choice

This is where the importance of inclusion in the workplace really comes into its own!

“Is it hard to be inclusive?”

Not really!

“Today, we know these things exist,
and there are easy ways to improve the situation
and enable people to use their full potential.
Just for that, it’s worth making the effort!”

Julie Savage-Fournier

Did you know that most strategies to help neuroatypical people thrive are also useful for neurotypical people?

Reducing distractions and allowing moments of intense concentration will be essential for someone with ADD, but also very useful for most people. But there’s a subtle difference to consider: knowing what our brain needs when it reaches its limits also tells us how to optimize its functioning when it’s operating within the norm. In short, what is a major obstacle for one neuroatypical person is often an inconvenience for many others.

Being flexible and adapting our ways of working reduces the mental effort required to complete a task, and improves everyone’s comfort level. By being open-minded about different behaviors and demands, we collectively relieve ourselves of the pressure of trying to fit everyone into the same mold.

Can you see the benefits? Psychological safety, mental well-being, creativity, commitment, and ultimately, respect for all.

“Minute pompon! But that sounds like anarchy! We can’t accommodate everyone, all the time! It’s going to be chaos! What about standards and procedures? “

Read on, because this is where it gets interesting!

A number of “Lean” practices and principles are very well suited to neuroatypical people. It could become a convincing argument for your next project. Beautiful, isn’t it?

Clear expectations and processes, visual process management, consistency and intention (“hoshin kanri”), ergonomic workspaces… All these benefits make your workplace more inclusive and suitable for all brains.

Winning meetings: the ultimate list

Enabling everyone to absorb and process the information seen in meetings requires a bit of preparation. We’ve had to be creative over the past two years to think of new ways to hold our meetings, and we’ve learned a lot about engagement and inclusion.

Say goodbye to static meetings where there’s only one person talking and everyone else is staring into space or at their phone.

Tips for an inclusive meeting

• Expérience visuelle : En vidéoconférence, la stimulation visuelle était forte. On voyait la personne qui présentait de près et on pouvait partager notre écran. C’est génial pour maintenir le niveau d’attention, car la vision et l’attention sont étroitement liées.
  • Suggestions for face-to-face meetings: You have several options, such as writing the meeting agenda on a whiteboard, or using Kanban boards to structure discussions. Visual facilitation and sketchnoting are also good tools.

• Sous-titrage : Cette technique permet de capter l’attention, aide à mémoriser ou à suivre l’information, libère la mémoire de travail et permet d’éviter d’oublier des choses (contrairement à l’écoute seule). 
  • With some presentation software, you can activate subtitles even during a face-to-face meeting…

• Clavardage : Cette façon de faire réduit l’impulsivité et les interruptions, allège la peur de parler devant un groupe et aide aussi quand il est plus simple d’écrire que de parler.
  • Use Post-it notes or a written brainstorm.
  • Use whiteboards or flipcharts and allow everyone to use them.

• Bouger : Gigoter, marcher, gribouiller, prendre des notes : contrairement à l’écoute, ces astuces sollicitent une autre partie du cerveau. Certaines personnes ont besoin d’occuper cette zone pour être attentives.
  • Let people move freely and avoid taking offense. It’s a sign that they’re listening.

Conclusion on optimizing work meetings

The writing of this article draws on the complementary strengths of two neuroatypical people, mothers of neuroatypical children and Lean practitioners who notice links not always so obvious for everyone to see.

To find out more about best management practices that are also inclusive and respectful of people, visit the training catalog.

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Adapted from an article originally published in The Lean Mag.

Written in collaboration with:

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Books published by Ruth Stanley

• A Different Type of Bombshell: The Tin Hat’s Journey Through World War II (Tellwell Publishing)
• Your Creativity Sprint (Kindle Direct Publishing)
• Ballads Bombshells and Brotherhood: The Men behind The Tin Hats Concert Party (Kindle Direct Publishing)
• Inspiration in the Little Moments: Creative Bits and Bobs (Kindle Direct Publishing)

Bonus questions