What motivates you at work?

[Stitch]

Do you like systems best?
Do you like pictures and visuals?
Do you like thank yous?
Do you value one to one meetings with your manager or do you find these stressful?

I like systems so long as I can create and rearrange them according to my liking. I recently moved to a position were several procedures/systems needed either updating or a complete replacement, and being able to do that myself was great. I will listen to other input if I make an effort; however, my goal is to understand the system -how it works and what it's supposed to do -better than anyone else. In other words, I try to have such an in-depth understanding of it that I don't need to ask anyone for help.

I find visuals such as graphs or diagrams very helpful, as well as pictures that accompany step-by-step direction. If I'm in training it also provides something to look at, so I don't have to concentrate on maintaining eye contact with the trainer and can focus on listening.

I like thank yous if they are sincerely given (not a passing 'thanks') and done in private.

As far as one-on-ones, I enjoy those with my manager because we have similar personalities and get along very well. We both like things simple, clearly explained, and to the point -and I do excellently when given crystal-clear directions. Individual meetings with anyone else are harder, since they aren't as familiar with my working/behavioral/speaking styles.

Hope this helps!

 

[Ylva]

Please can you help me by suggesting some things that motivate you or help you to enjoy your job?

If my job is enjoyable, that helps. Typically, the only way to have unbroken concentration is if no one interrupts me.

Do you like systems best?

I think so? Then again, not all systems are created equal – and not all systems beat my on-the-fly thinking.

Do you like pictures and visuals?

Doesn't everyone? Are we talking Rembrandts? If you mean information-wise then mindmaps are better than power point stuff.

Do you like thank yous?

Good question. No.

Do you value one to one meetings with your manager or do you find these stressful?

Depends on how much they stare.

 

[Rob]

Hi,
I'm NT but my dad had AS and I'm an advocate for ASD colleagues at work.
Right now, I'm working on a project to develop the behaviour of managers so they can encourage and support their teams to show their talents and be very productive. We want people to enjoy coming to work and be very innovative.
I'm lucky because my employer is very supportive of people with ASD and I have an opportunity to work with our Autism Lead Manager to develop some ideas to help people with AS / ASC / ADHD to feel comfortable, focused, happy and productive.
I know appraisals or face to face meetings with a manager can be really stressful! Also, team meetings and noisy workplaces can bring on overload.

Please can you help me by suggesting some things that motivate you or help you to enjoy your job?
Do you like systems best?
Do you like pictures and visuals?
Do you like thank yous?
Do you value one to one meetings with your manager or do you find these stressful?

Thank you for your help and expert advice.

Wonderful post!

I can tell you that I have all four factors above working in my favor at my cashier job at our Overwaitea/Save-On-Foods grocery store.
While my job is difficult and challenging, I find the system allows for routine actions in general. Pictures and visuals are great when the cash register screen logs off to a platter of appetizers, a bouquet of flowers, or a picture of luscious cake or other dessert. Thank yous I get from customers are very motivating and make me feel good. Thank yous from staff are greatly appreciated!
One-to-one meetings with the manager make me nervous at first but once I find out the reason for the meeting I find the meetings valuable and constructive to build a good teamwork attitude.

The best moments I get are when a young smiling parent has their cute little baby or toddler in their arms, with tasty looking veggies and fruit going by me through the till, and a sunny day outside against the backdrop of the Purcell Mountains covered in snow. All at the same time!

 

[Grenade]

Hi,
I'm NT but my dad had AS and I'm an advocate for ASD colleagues at work.
Right now, I'm working on a project to develop the behaviour of managers so they can encourage and support their teams to show their talents and be very productive. We want people to enjoy coming to work and be very innovative.
I'm lucky because my employer is very supportive of people with ASD and I have an opportunity to work with our Autism Lead Manager to develop some ideas to help people with AS / ASC / ADHD to feel comfortable, focused, happy and productive.
I know appraisals or face to face meetings with a manager can be really stressful! Also, team meetings and noisy workplaces can bring on overload.

Please can you help me by suggesting some things that motivate you or help you to enjoy your job?
Do you like systems best?
Do you like pictures and visuals?
Do you like thank yous?
Do you value one to one meetings with your manager or do you find these stressful?

Thank you for your help and expert advice.

It's been a while since I've had a job to which these questions apply. But I work best when I'm given the overall goal and I'm left as to how to get there. Too many instructions makes me frustrated and panicky; after two steps, I pretty much get lost. Written instructions are great/best, while illustrations are bonuses that sometimes I don't even consult. Sometimes, though, a picture does paint a thousand words (not to sound contradictory).

I appreciate sincere thank yous, but not public ones. A little note or e-mail is perfect.

I like one-on-one meetings with a manager, unless it's bad news.

One-on-one conversations are navigable but I find group meetings where nobody wants to be there to be a huge waste of time. An e-mail with all the information talked about in the meeting is better for me. If people need to give their input, e-mailing back seems perfect to me. I know this goes against the grain of most companies that seem to need to have those ubiquitous meetings. I just don't think they're profitable.

The big questions: What motivates me to work? The answer for me is trust (that I can and will diligently do my work--I am actually a really, really hard worker), independence (this goes along with trust--I like being given something to do, then be left alone to do it), and being granted the privilege of using ear buds to listen to podcasts or music, which helps make work less mundane. Oh, and respect. That makes working more fun.

 

[Bolletje]

I mostly agree with @xudo. I need crystal clear instructions and I need the freedom to do things my own way.
Within reason. Another important thing for me is knowing what I am allowed to do.
I'm a hard worker, a problem solver and a people pleaser. I've gotten in trouble for this because I often work jobs that are way below my skill and intelligence level. When something needs to be done and I have the skills to do it, I occasionally forget to consider whether my current function allows me to do it. And I get really frustrated when I'm not allowed to use my skills and experience.
For example: I've been working as an assistant at a healthcare facility for close to 12 years now. I'm a few months away from becoming an M.D. myself. I've given lectures at international conventions about my research in healthcare. Yet at my last job, I got fired because I did the job they hired me to do. I got hired because of my experience in health care, but my boss never got around to giving me clearance to do anything. I grew so frustrated by having to be supervised for every fart by people younger and less experienced than me, that I started doing the work unsupervised anyway. Which was not the best idea in hindsight, I was fired within a week.

I like being thanked for a job well done. I don't like being thanked for just doing my job.

 

[Mr Allen]

I concentrate of serving the customers and ignoring the annoying idiot I have to work with.

 

[Aeolienne]

When I think about what motivates me, I'm reminded of the parable of the three stonemasons. It’s a bit cheesy but it still rings true. This is how it goes: There were three stonemasons who were asked what they did for a living. The first said, “I’m a stonemason.” The second said, “I provide for my family.” The third said, “I build cathedrals.” Who appears to have the most job satisfaction? Obviously the third.

So I would like to have a clear idea of what wider goal I’m contributing to, which would have to be something that fires my enthusiasm (most likely something sustainability-related). I’d like to be able to understand what I have achieved so far, how my role fits into the wider scheme of things and where I see myself going – and be able to explain all these (mutatis mutandis) to a prospective employer or indeed a bloke down the pub or a younger college alumnus who has approached me for advice.

And I must admit I would like the opportunity to travel on behalf of work. Or at the very least not to be denied the opportunities that my colleagues have, as happened when I worked at the Met Office. (My boss, on being informed of my Asperger’s, recommended that I be excluded from presenting results at conferences because I didn’t give a favourable impression.) Perhaps that sounds a bit hypocritical coming from an environmentalist. However I am/was supposed to be good at foreign languages, and it saddens me that I’ve made so little use of them.

 

[Mr Allen]

Tolerate the guy at work who keeps having a go at me without punching the crap out of his annoying 60 year old face, knowing that eventually it'll be 2 PM and I can go either Home or to Meadowhall or the Cinema or wherever, to get away from said moron.

 

[Aspie_rin]

I don't have any job yet, but I think that if every employee sent their ideas by email to all other employees before a meeting, it would be easier to get prepared and have some time to think about these ideas.

 

[Jerry]

Yes, those kind of group meetings don't add any value for anyone and they are stressful. Thank you for your feedback

I find that group meeting for me (not for the group) are terribly inefficient. When I worked for a large chain, the seemed to be a necessary evil, but personally, I couldn't spent my time better by working. For me, one on one feedback works best. Good luck!

 

[Peacelily76]

I find that group meeting for me (not for the group) are terribly inefficient. When I worked for a large chain, the seemed to be a necessary evil, but personally, I couldn't spent my time better by working. For me, one on one feedback works best. Good luck!

Thank you Jerry! I find group meetings turn into people talking about their feelings a lot which shouldn't be the purpose of a meeting at all! Then there is all the body language and polite nodding of heads. I can see why colleagues with AS would find these meetings pointless.

 

[Peacelily76]

I don't have any job yet, but I think that if every employee sent their ideas by email to all other employees before a meeting, it would be easier to get prepared and have some time to think about these ideas.

Fantastic idea! You will be pleased to know we do this at my company. We also use instant messenger to exchange ideas to cut out the verbal time. It's efficient and works for both NT and AS colleagues.

 

[Peacelily76]

Tolerate the guy at work who keeps having a go at me without punching the crap out of his annoying 60 year old face, knowing that eventually it'll be 2 PM and I can go either Home or to Meadowhall or the Cinema or wherever, to get away from said moron.

That sounds difficult to tolerate, Rich. We've all worked with someone like the guy at work you mention!

 

[Peacelily76]

When I think about what motivates me, I'm reminded of the parable of the three stonemasons. It’s a bit cheesy but it still rings true. This is how it goes: There were three stonemasons who were asked what they did for a living. The first said, “I’m a stonemason.” The second said, “I provide for my family.” The third said, “I build cathedrals.” Who appears to have the most job satisfaction? Obviously the third.

So I would like to have a clear idea of what wider goal I’m contributing to, which would have to be something that fires my enthusiasm (most likely something sustainability-related). I’d like to be able to understand what I have achieved so far, how my role fits into the wider scheme of things and where I see myself going – and be able to explain all these (mutatis mutandis) to a prospective employer or indeed a bloke down the pub or a younger college alumnus who has approached me for advice.

And I must admit I would like the opportunity to travel on behalf of work. Or at the very least not to be denied the opportunities that my colleagues have, as happened when I worked at the Met Office. (My boss, on being informed of my Asperger’s, recommended that I be excluded from presenting results at conferences because I didn’t give a favourable impression.) Perhaps that sounds a bit hypocritical coming from an environmentalist. However I am/was supposed to be good at foreign languages, and it saddens me that I’ve made so little use of them.

I like having a vision statement and a wider context too. It helps me to understand WHY I'm being asked to do something.
I'm shocked that the Met Office gave that mandate. Hopefully they are trying to become more open-minded.
Work should be about clear direction and opportunities for development. We go to work to do stuff we're good at. We need to develop leaders who bring out our talent and are also open-minded to us asking them to develop themselves too.
Thank you for your valuable insight.

 

[Chris Russell]

I am immensely gladdened to hear so many positives in a thread about work. This is often the place where Aspies really come unstuck - the place where we seek validation through our professional persona, but are often misunderstood, bullied or treated with suspicion. It's really heartening, Peacelilly, to hear about your advocacy and your 'Autism Lead'... I wish this was the case in my job. I work in education in the UK, and we receive training to support our autistic students, but this is wholly inadequate. That the 'awareness' of autism does not seem to stretch to autistic staff is a constant frustration. I am constantly asked to fill in forms that are not designed for my role, asked to set goals based on no feedback and am assessed with no observation of my work. The icing on the cake is the unscheduled, last minute one to one meeting that turns out to include the assistant principal and a rep from HR. Instant meltdown.

Luckily, I do have experience of a different job, as a graphics specialist in Environmental Engineering. I got to work with scientists and engineers on massive energy projects and decommissioning and contaminated land projects all around the globe. Regular conferences had me speaking about technical matters to groups of 100 and more with confidence, and presenting to high level executives in plush offices. Everything had to be scoped and costed in advance, so organisation and prioritisation was essential. Systems ruled in order to keep projects on schedule, but innovation and problem solving were acknowledged and valued.

I agree with several of the other posters in that acknowledgement is exceptionally important to us (we simply don't pick up on the non-verbal validation). I believe it is up to us to tell our employers what we need, but this will always involve advocacy because we do not have the language to effect change directly... You are doing an important job, Peacelilly - Thank you.

 

[Peacelily76]

I like systems so long as I can create and rearrange them according to my liking. I recently moved to a position were several procedures/systems needed either updating or a complete replacement, and being able to do that myself was great. I will listen to other input if I make an effort; however, my goal is to understand the system -how it works and what it's supposed to do -better than anyone else. In other words, I try to have such an in-depth understanding of it that I don't need to ask anyone for help.

I find visuals such as graphs or diagrams very helpful, as well as pictures that accompany step-by-step direction. If I'm in training it also provides something to look at, so I don't have to concentrate on maintaining eye contact with the trainer and can focus on listening.

I like thank yous if they are sincerely given (not a passing 'thanks') and done in private.

As far as one-on-ones, I enjoy those with my manager because we have similar personalities and get along very well. We both like things simple, clearly explained, and to the point -and I do excellently when given crystal-clear directions. Individual meetings with anyone else are harder, since they aren't as familiar with my working/behavioral/speaking styles.

Hope this helps!

Fantastic reply and really insightful! It almost sounds as if you learn a system so thoroughly that you are able to 'speak' to it. I wish I had your talent!
It sounds like you have a great boss too who gives you really clear directions.
Thank you for your response and feedback. It's very helpful.

 

[Peacelily76]

I am immensely gladdened to hear so many positives in a thread about work. This is often the place where Aspies really come unstuck - the place where we seek validation through our professional persona, but are often misunderstood, bullied or treated with suspicion. It's really heartening, Peacelilly, to hear about your advocacy and your 'Autism Lead'... I wish this was the case in my job. I work in education in the UK, and we receive training to support our autistic students, but this is wholly inadequate. That the 'awareness' of autism does not seem to stretch to autistic staff is a constant frustration. I am constantly asked to fill in forms that are not designed for my role, asked to set goals based on no feedback and am assessed with no observation of my work. The icing on the cake is the unscheduled, last minute one to one meeting that turns out to include the assistant principal and a rep from HR. Instant meltdown.

Luckily, I do have experience of a different job, as a graphics specialist in Environmental Engineering. I got to work with scientists and engineers on massive energy projects and decommissioning and contaminated land projects all around the globe. Regular conferences had me speaking about technical matters to groups of 100 and more with confidence, and presenting to high level executives in plush offices. Everything had to be scoped and costed in advance, so organisation and prioritisation was essential. Systems ruled in order to keep projects on schedule, but innovation and problem solving were acknowledged and valued.

I agree with several of the other posters in that acknowledgement is exceptionally important to us (we simply don't pick up on the non-verbal validation). I believe it is up to us to tell our employers what we need, but this will always involve advocacy because we do not have the language to effect change directly... You are doing an important job, Peacelilly - Thank you.

Thank you Chris for your support and input. I had a very productive session today with our Autism Voice Network and we are joining up with a university to look at valid routes into sustainable employment where colleagues with AS will benefit from reasonable adjustments to their working environments and conditions, whether they have a diagnosis or are at the start of that journey.
Some choose to not mention their condition at interview because they fear the stigma, or, more importantly, they want to be recruited on merit and this is commendable. What we do need to ensure is that managers are intuitive to their additional requirements and suggest changes that could be made to help that colleague. It might be making sure they get to sit at the same desk every day, or having screen guards so they don't have to look at other people.
Whatever their talents, we would like to make sure we do everything we can to retain these colleagues...and change perceptions/ traditional thinking.
One size does not fit all!

 

[Peacelily76]

Please can you help me by suggesting some things that motivate you or help you to enjoy your job?

If my job is enjoyable, that helps. Typically, the only way to have unbroken concentration is if no one interrupts me.

Do you like systems best?

I think so? Then again, not all systems are created equal – and not all systems beat my on-the-fly thinking.

Do you like pictures and visuals?

Doesn't everyone? Are we talking Rembrandts? If you mean information-wise then mindmaps are better than power point stuff.

Do you like thank yous?

Good question. No.

Do you value one to one meetings with your manager or do you find these stressful?

Depends on how much they stare.

Awesome reply!
You are so accurate in your judgement of systems. If I hear one more person say the phrase, "Out of the box" when choosing a system, I will have an NT meltdown.
Mindmaps are so useful. I use them a lot too.
My friend with AS hates thank yous. He just wants to get on with his job with no fuss.
And staring is too intense for some colleagues so they prefer to sit/stand next to their manager to reduce eye contact.
Thank you for your insights.
I can't paint like Rembrandt to save my life though :-D

 

[Peacelily76]

I mostly agree with @xudo. I need crystal clear instructions and I need the freedom to do things my own way.
Within reason. Another important thing for me is knowing what I am allowed to do.
I'm a hard worker, a problem solver and a people pleaser. I've gotten in trouble for this because I often work jobs that are way below my skill and intelligence level. When something needs to be done and I have the skills to do it, I occasionally forget to consider whether my current function allows me to do it. And I get really frustrated when I'm not allowed to use my skills and experience.
For example: I've been working as an assistant at a healthcare facility for close to 12 years now. I'm a few months away from becoming an M.D. myself. I've given lectures at international conventions about my research in healthcare. Yet at my last job, I got fired because I did the job they hired me to do. I got hired because of my experience in health care, but my boss never got around to giving me clearance to do anything. I grew so frustrated by having to be supervised for every fart by people younger and less experienced than me, that I started doing the work unsupervised anyway. Which was not the best idea in hindsight, I was fired within a week.

I like being thanked for a job well done. I don't like being thanked for just doing my job.

Crystal clear instructions, freedom to do things your own way. So as long as you know what the process is, you can organise yourself.
I like the thank you for a job well done. You then know the specific reasons for why you're getting a thank you.
Great feedback! Thank you for your input

 

[Peacelily76]

Wonderful post!

I can tell you that I have all four factors above working in my favor at my cashier job at our Overwaitea/Save-On-Foods grocery store.
While my job is difficult and challenging, I find the system allows for routine actions in general. Pictures and visuals are great when the cash register screen logs off to a platter of appetizers, a bouquet of flowers, or a picture of luscious cake or other dessert. Thank yous I get from customers are very motivating and make me feel good. Thank yous from staff are greatly appreciated!
One-to-one meetings with the manager make me nervous at first but once I find out the reason for the meeting I find the meetings valuable and constructive to build a good teamwork attitude.

The best moments I get are when a young smiling parent has their cute little baby or toddler in their arms, with tasty looking veggies and fruit going by me through the till, and a sunny day outside against the backdrop of the Purcell Mountains covered in snow. All at the same time!

Rob, I love your post! It makes me want to work at your store!! You are perfect for your job, I can tell. A perfect sales person!
I like how you can see the system is set up to promote interactions with customers in a structured way. This will then manage the flow of customers efficiently.
It sounds like you really enjoy what you do and that can be very motivating.
Thank you for your feedback.