Social Skills in the ADHD Workplace

Social Skills in the ADHD Workplace

Social skills are often a critical part of how effective we can be in the workplace. They are a measurement of how we are perceived as a contributing member of the team. Some social skills can be learned from great organizations such as Dale Carnegie Organization or Toastmasters. Others that typically might be caused by ADHD symptoms may need addressing with an ADHD professional. These include, but are not limited to, symptoms such as impulsivity (causing one to blurt out things while others are speaking) impatience, irritability or lack of focus (not focusing and therefore not understanding or remembering what others are/have said.)
Let’s start by looking at some of the things that Toastmasters might be able to help you learn. For around $75- 100 per year membership, you can choose the well known track to learn to be a public speaker or you can select the lesser known track of leadership development. Some members chose to do both.

In the public speaking track, you begin by getting in front of a group of people (usually 6 – 24 people or larger) and your first assignment is called an icebreaker. You get up and talk about yourself, a topic you know better than anyone else in the world. This way even if you make a mistake, no one would know because you are the expert on you. I have known many people at Toastmasters go from being unable to speak before the 6 person group, go on to become very effective speakers in large groups. Many people are there simply to overcome their social fear and discomfort. One could expect to learn how to make better eye contact, how to prepare a simple presentation, how to notice social cues in the audience and adapt accordingly, how to engage ones voice and body in delivering the message.
On the leadership track, one might expect to learn how to inspire others, persuade or excite them to take action, to get practice in prioritizing and organizing tasks and to meet new people.

So given that social skills can make such a huge impact on our experience in the workplace and with relationships, it is worth some investment of time, energy and money to improve your ability to understand and adapt to the social cues in the workplace. For the communication challenges that seem directly caused by ADD symptoms, some other areas to explore might include proper medication and/or working with a coach or therapist on skills training and handling any fears or emotional issues that are interfering with having social grace. You may also want to develop a more clear sense of daily purpose or a purpose in ones work and life. As a bonus with Toastmasters, chances are high that you will also make some great friends that are on the same journey.

Information Management in the Workplace for ADHD

Information Management in the Workplace

In today’s workplace there are many forms of information management techniques. Some of the most basic still work even in our world of expanding technology. You will still find file cabinets in every corporate office in America because your basic paper filing system will always exist, even if we
want to go “green” and get rid of it.

However there is a multitude of other ways to store your information for easy retrieval. You may store it on your personal computers, internet cloud or portable hard drive. For those with ADHD it is imperative that you work to find processes that work for you for the gathering and retrieval of information. ADDer’s tend to gather information but lack the processes needed to retrieve it at a moment’s notice. When we are thinking about information management, we need to consider a few things:

1. Is this information I will use daily; monitoring it for change?

2. How often will I need to access this information and in what form (word, excel, access)?

3. Will I be accessing this information from my personal computer, handheld device or a multitude of locations?

4. Will I need to have this information in my back pocket at all times?
Remember there are pluses and minuses to each of information storage choice.
If you have penmanship that is hard to decipher, you may want to stay with digital options for information storage. The typed word tends to be easier to read for you and anyone you may share this information. However, if the data is input on a personal computer, you will need to have access to this computer all the time to retrieve this information. You will also need to be cognizant of backing up your hard drive or run the risk of virus or corrupt files. The advantage of the personal computer is the large keyboard and monitor. These make it easier to type and read information.

The handheld device is a much more mobile device but the keyboard and monitor are small and sometimes difficult to use. It may be so difficult to enter data that you may not enter it at all thus losing important information.

Lastly, if we chose to enter the data on the internet cloud system (internet data storage), we might find flexibility to enter and access the data on many devices yet not like the discomfort of the data being stored on something so physically assessable. In my practice I choose the internet cloud as a second backup for some data however most is stored on my pc and my assistant’s pc which is backed up on regular intervals.

As in any project or task, I think of one of the conversations with a recent client who was deciding what information to include in a presentation. When I asked him well, it depends on what outcome you want, what is your objective. He said “Great question, I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

When it comes to all the systems and tools that are available, first you should decide what the reason or outcome you desire to achieve with the tool and this will narrow the selection choice for you.