Working with me doc
A simple tool to help you advocate for yourself
Howdy Subscribers,
Talking about being neurodiversity at work is hard. It’s vulnerable and can be met with uncomfortable questions, confusion and in the worst cases hostility. Despite it’s challenges it is a conversation worth having. To you be as productive as possible and help your team work with you. One great way I have found to start the conversation is a working with me document.
A working with me document is a simple living doc you share with co-workers so they know how to best interact with you. It’s usually one of the first thing I do when joining a new team or workplace.
In these docs, I like the sprinkle that I have dyslexia throughout it so even if people are skimming they can’t miss it. Here is my personal template for a working with me doc. Feel free to use this link as a template. The basics of my template are.
Personality & Working Style
Feedback & Recognition
Schedule & Communication
Career Goals, Future Interests & Areas for Development
Misc & Fun
I have some tips on how to sprinkle that you are neurodivergent. Throughout the document.
Tip 1: Try to find a spot to include your neurodivergent in every section. I guarantee you there’s one bullet in each of those sections that can relate back to how your brain works. I like to just add one simple bullet.
Misc & Fun - I like to give talks on neurodiversity and dyslexia in my free time
Tip 2: Neurodivergent people often get feedback on how their brains work (I know - so annoying). In my feedback section I like to call this out. I say something like.
My dyslexia affects my ability to spell, I get a lot of feedback on docs, designs and slack messages. This feedback can be helpful if it’s tactical like a simple change “dnot” to “don’t.”
Feedback like “I notice you have a few spelling mistakes” is less helpful. No worries if you are having trouble understanding what I wrote feel free to just ask “can you say again, please? Rather than leaving comments on a doc or a Figma.
or another option
Sometimes getting feedback on writing is hard for me because of dyslexia affects my spelling. If it is a simple or straightforward error and you feel empowered to do so, I encourage you to correct any spelling mistakes you see. This is more helpful that many comments in my documents. I know it’s tempting but I have my own process for spell checking and am not shy to ask for help.
Tip 3: I find a clever way to say how my disability affects me in my growth areas section. So instead of saying
I want to work on my written communication
I say
I want to be more detailed oriented
I find this is a nice way to establish what I want to work on that isn’t directly tied to my disability because I can’t really change that. I can try to be better with visual documentation or verbal communication or even adding more information to my documentation. These are all things that would help with my communication that aren’t directly related to my dyslexia. Try out a working with me doc and tell me how it works for you!