Supporting ADHD at work becomes harder when an organisation leaves people to assemble their own instructions. An employee might receive a deadline by email, a different priority during a meeting and another request from a colleague who needs help immediately. Each instruction sounds reasonable on its own. Together, they create a working day that takes considerable effort to organise before any useful work begins.
For managers, that distinction matters. When someone struggles to deliver, you need to understand both the task and the conditions around it. Otherwise, you risk asking an employee to improve their organisation while continuing to make the work harder to organise.
Start with how the work reaches people
NHS Dorset estimates that around 3–4% of adults have ADHD. ADHD can affect planning, prioritising and focus, although people’s experiences differ. Therefore, a manager’s most useful starting point is a conversation about the individual’s work, rather than assumptions about their diagnosis.
Ask the employee to walk you through a recent task. Where did the instructions come from? What interrupted progress? When did the priority change, and who explained what should happen next?
This approach gives you something concrete to discuss. For example, someone who repeatedly misses an internal deadline may receive competing requests from several managers. A shared priority list could help, but only if those managers agree which work comes first.
Similarly, finishing everything does not necessarily mean the arrangements work well. If an employee regularly catches up after hours because daytime interruptions prevent concentration, the result conceals a problem. Ask how they achieved it, as well as whether they delivered it.
Supporting ADHD at work: this, not that
Use the comparisons below to identify changes worth discussing. Treat them as options, because the employee may need a different approach.
| Try this | Rather than this | What it looks like in practice |
|---|---|---|
| Agree the order of priorities | Call every request urgent | When new work arrives, explain what moves down the list and confirm any deadline changes |
| Keep a reliable task record | Scatter instructions across channels | Record agreed actions, deadlines and updates in one place the employee can check |
| Offer useful checkpoints | Ask constantly for progress updates | Agree brief conversations that help clarify next steps without repeatedly interrupting the work |
| Protect time for demanding tasks | Recommend better focus while adding interruptions | Discuss suitable space or working periods, then agree how colleagues should handle urgent requests |
| Describe a clear outcome | Say “be more organised” | Explain what the task needs to achieve, when it is due and which requirements matter |
| Explore manageable milestones | Hand over a large project without intermediate steps | Agree stages that make progress visible and allow questions before difficulties accumulate |
The value comes from implementing these changes consistently. A task list cannot resolve competing priorities if senior colleagues keep issuing separate instructions. Likewise, protected focus time offers little help if people treat it as available space for another meeting.
Agree support with the employee
You do not need to identify every difficulty in the first conversation. Start with the barrier causing the most immediate problem and explore a change together. Ask what has helped previously, while allowing room for someone who is still working out their needs.
Acas advises employers to support neurodivergent workers whether or not they have a diagnosis. A worker does not need a diagnosis to qualify for disability protection under the Equality Act 2010. Employers must make reasonable adjustments where the legal duty applies.
Once you agree support, record the arrangement, who will implement it and when you will review it. Discuss privacy too. Colleagues may need to understand a working arrangement without knowing someone’s diagnosis.
If the situation needs further assessment, consider occupational health or specialist advice with the employee’s involvement.
Review the work and the working day
Agree how you will assess whether the change helps. Look at relevant outcomes, such as clearer deadlines, fewer missed instructions or less reliance on evening catch-up. Also ask the employee whether the arrangement makes work easier to manage.
For a founder, this may mean changing how requests reach one person. A charity manager might need to coordinate demands across funded projects. Larger organisations should check whether different departments honour the same agreed support.
These conversations can reveal wider management problems, but individual adjustments still matter. Clearer communication may help everyone while a particular employee needs additional support.
Cape Consulting helps leaders review working practices and agree practical support that enables people to contribute. Talk to us about supporting ADHD at work.