You want to be an inclusive leader. You have read the articles, attended the training, and made neurodiversity part of your vocabulary. But when Monday morning arrives and you are running a stand-up with ten people who all process information differently, good intentions alone are not enough. Here is what actually works.

Start With Yourself

Before you can support your team's communication diversity, you need to understand your own defaults. Most managers unconsciously favour the communication style they grew up with. Knowing your own biases is the first step toward not projecting them onto others.

•  Take a Communication DNA assessment to map your natural style

•  Notice whose communication feels easy to you and ask whether ease means compatibility or just similarity

•  Identify the assumptions you make when someone communicates differently than you expect

Create Explicit Communication Norms

Implicit rules are the enemy of neurodivergent inclusion. When communication expectations are unwritten, neurodivergent team members spend enormous energy trying to decode them.

•  Document how your team handles feedback, disagreements, and requests

•  Specify preferred channels for different types of communication such as async for complex topics and sync for quick decisions

•  Write down meeting norms including whether cameras are required, how to signal wanting to speak, and whether agendas are shared in advance

•  Make these norms revisable so the team can evolve them together

Offer Multiple Communication Channels

Not everyone thrives in the same medium. Some people are brilliant in writing but freeze in video calls. Others need to talk things through verbally to organise their thoughts.

•  Provide written summaries after verbal meetings

•  Allow people to contribute to discussions asynchronously when possible

•  Do not penalise someone for preferring Slack over spontaneous video calls

•  Let people choose how they give status updates rather than mandating a single format

Use Communication Profiles

The most effective tool a manager can deploy is transparency about how each person communicates.

•  Run a team Communication DNA survey and share the results with mutual consent

•  Use AI-generated compatibility reports to understand specific dynamics between pairs

•  Reference profiles during one-on-ones to adapt your style to each report

•  Update profiles periodically as people grow and change

Watch for Masking

If someone is consistently agreeable, never pushes back, and seems to mirror your style perfectly, they might be masking rather than genuinely aligned.

•  Create psychological safety by explicitly welcoming disagreement

•  Ask for written feedback as an alternative to putting people on the spot

•  Check in privately with team members who seem to be performing rather than participating

The Payoff

Neurodivergent-friendly communication is not charity. It is a competitive advantage. Teams that communicate transparently make faster decisions, catch problems earlier, and retain talent that other organisations lose to burnout. The manager who builds this environment does not just support neurodivergent employees. They build a better team for everyone.