A Deep Dive into Workplace Needs Assessments: What’s Happening Day to Day?

How to improve the daily experience for staff in education.

Why Workplace Needs Assessments Matter

Workplace Needs Assessments are not just about tools and diagnoses, they are about understanding the everyday experience of work. For staff in education, this often means balancing shifting priorities. While support for students is vital, the well-being of those supporting them also deserves attention.

A common misconception is that big projects or overwhelming tasks cause burnout. However, it is often the accumulation of minor stressors, such as context switching, unclear meetings, and poorly matched responsibilities, that wears people down. For neurodivergent staff, these micro-stressors can be amplified by sensory overload, executive function challenges, and the way information is processed.

Workplace Needs Assessments can help identify what is happening, revealing the underlying issues that may be present.

From the Field

Here is a real-world anonymised example of what this can look like:

An experienced employee in a student-facing role described burning out from a constant churn of shifting priorities, administrative tasks, and meetings that felt disorganised and ambiguous. Although they showed up well to others, their internal experience was one of confusion, exhaustion, and growing self-doubt.

The challenge was to identify what small, repetitive patterns were draining their capacity. It became clear that the daily rhythm of their role was unsustainable.

As part of their Workplace Needs Assessment, they were supported to:

Keep a reflective work diary, so they can see what is draining and what is energy-giving.

To participate in structured observations, they could identify which tasks were causing the most challenges, particularly when switching from one task to another.

Reviewing meeting formats to identify areas where clarity was lacking and to understand the purpose of each meeting, as well as determining which meetings the individual needed to attend and which ones were unnecessary. There was also something here about being clear on the individual’s priorities and responsibilities and ensuring they were not taking on things that did not fall in their remit.

The individual also discusses difficulties in memorising what happened in meeting situations. Particularly when it was unclear what would happen before they arrived. We discussed a structure that helped them clarify what was going to happen and ensured that the end of the meeting time was allocated to review what had happened and what actions were coming out of it, along with when these actions were likely to be taken. This was then recorded in writing, allowing the individual to refer back to it later. The individual noted that this not only supported their memory but also helped the rest of the team to be clear on what was going on. Because there was a written record, it removed much of the ambiguity that had existed before.

This experience is supported by research: Poorly structured meetings are a known source of cognitive overload and decision fatigue (Leach et al., 2009). For individuals with ADHD or executive function differences, ambiguity around meeting outcomes and unclear expectations can significantly impair follow-through and increase stress (Kooij et al., 2019).

We also developed a plan to review the tools they were using, as some were effective. However, others became part of the problem, hindering their ability to perform their roles effectively.

Together, the assessor and employee co-developed a series of practical changes:

Task batching to reduce context switching.

Utilisation of collaborative tools for enhanced communication and visual representation of workstreams.

Meeting agreements: setting clear start/end times, sharing written agendas in advance, clarifying actions and responsibilities at the close.

Adjustments to reduce redundant admin or duplicative systems.

The outcome? The employee reported fewer emotional shutdowns, better memory retention via visual systems, and a restored sense of calm and contribution. They were no longer bracing for each day, they had space to think and breathe.

What to Think About

When considering the rhythm of a working day, these questions often surface during a Workplace Needs Assessment:

• What kinds of tasks are most draining?
• Are they frequent?
• How many tools, tabs, or systems does someone switch between on a daily basis?
• Do meetings help clarify next steps or add to the confusion?
• How often are expectations revisited, rewritten, or missed entirely?
• Are energy highs and lows aligned with the current schedule?
• What environmental or structural factors repeatedly get in the way?

Assessments that explore these areas make room for proactive adjustments, ones that not only support access needs but also reduce stress, enhance memory retention, and create space for meaningful work.

This example highlights a key principle: that sustainable performance is not just about workload, but also about how work is experienced throughout the day.

Small barriers, repeated often, can be just as damaging as large ones. In particular, meetings that lack structure or clarity can become a source of stress for employees who are already facing challenges.

Workplace Needs Assessments provide an opportunity to examine the day-to-day operations closely. They support not only individuals with recognised neurodivergent conditions like ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia or dyscalculia, but also those experiencing the cumulative effects of invisible friction: disjointed systems, ambiguous expectations, or inconsistent team rituals.

By Nathan Whitbread, The Neurodivergent Coach