From One Size Fits All to Brain Friendly: Getting More from Every Mind at Work

When you look at the way your team works, is it designed for real humans or for an imaginary “ideal worker” who never gets tired, over it or overwhelmed?

Next time you’re in your daily team meeting take a look at the people around you, in that crowd is a diverse mix of brains!  People who love detail and those who think big picture, fast processors and slower, deeper thinkers who need soak time, people who thrive in noise and movement and love a constantly changing dynamic environment, and others who think best in calm, people who speak up quickly and those who need a minute  before they contribute

None of these are “right” or “wrong” they’re just different. And they’re all in your team right now, whether you’ve recognised it or not.

Most leaders have gotten pretty good at recognising things like different ways of communicating to different groups or individuals.  Who needs visual, who can read a procedure and pick it up straight away and who learns through doing.  Now more than ever, we need to know the people in our team as real humans and the shift that’s happening, is in understanding how peoples brains work. A big part of frontline leadership is learning how different brains take in information, make sense of it and stay focused, then setting up work in ways that support that. When we design work to match how our people’s brains actually work, not how ours works or how we assume they should work, we can reduce overload and make it easier for everyone to do their best thinking on the job.

In production or operational environments, we often design work around the task: the schedule, the system, the output. But if we ignore how brains actually work, we create unnecessary tension: missed information, preventable errors, fatigue, frustration and disengagement.

So, the question we need to ask is: Is the way you set up work friendly for the brains on your team or only for the ones whose brain suits the environment?

Why we should turn our focus to “brain friendly” work 

When work clashes with how people’s brains operate, you see things like people struggling to stay focused in long meetings, information getting lost in a flood of emails, chats or verbal instructions, team members shutting down or good ideas staying in people’s heads because speaking up feels hard.

The benefit of creating a brain friendly work environment is allowing people to focus on what matters, creating clearer understanding of priorities and risks, space for honest input, less rework and teams that feel more in control, less overloaded, and more willing to engage.  

The first step is recognising that brains differ and design work with that in mind and the best way to do that is to shift from “fixing people” to “designing work”.  

When someone doesn’t meet our expectations, the default question is often what can they change to better meet the desired output?  We focus on the worker.

A better question is: How can we change how work is set up to make it more efficient and effective for not just that person but the whole team.  

The trap when we ask that question is we think in micro scale; a tool, plant or equipment, tech or how data is captured.  What we really want to do is stand back and be willing to look at the macro, big picture structure of work.  

A great place to start is making communication easier for brains to process

Think about your last meeting, briefing or email. Was it designed for easy thinking, or did people have to work hard to follow your message?

To make communication brain friendly, keep it simple and clear.  That means shorter, sharper messages with the 3–5 things people actually need to remember, chunking information into clear sections, the why, context, actions, clear responsibilities and accountabilities, using visuals and structure to help brains identify what matters and avoiding “drive by” instructions where you throw tasks at people in passing.  Set a time, give it your attention, and confirm what’s been heard. 

 These changes don’t take much time, but creating these habits will significantly reduce cognitive load.

Our brains are constantly filtering noise, movement, information, people, tasks. In our workplaces there are so many barriers to listening and focusing, that filter is on overdrive.  You can’t remove all the pressures, but you can make deliberate choices to create space for clear thinking.

Protect thinking time: for tasks that need focus (planning, risk assessment, complex problem solving), reduce distractions where possible, fewer side conversations, phones away, clear agenda, or a cue card on your desk that shows people please do not disturb.

Don’t stack everything together: back to back meetings, nonstop messages and constant “got a minute?” or “I know you’re busy but…” interruptions chew through mental bandwidth.

Most importantly be realistic about how much people can hold.  If you keep adding priorities without letting anything go, the brain does the same.  Eventually you will drop things, often the ones that seem less urgent in the moment.

A brain environment supports us to ask “What is real and what is just noise?”  

All of this sounds great in theory, but what happens when there is just too much mental load?  You can design the most brain friendly team in the world, but if people don’t feel safe to say “I don’t understand” or “I’m overloaded”, our brains will quietly shutdown.

To build that safety, you need to show the brains in the room the evidence that its safe.  The best way is to role model and make sayings like “I missed that, say it again?” or “I’m getting overloaded here” the norm in your team. 

 This is psychological safety in practice framed in everyday language through a brain friendly lens.

Where brain friendly really happens is in your daily patterns and habits

Most brains don’t love long unstructured meetings with unclear outcomes. Yet we keep running them.  Here are some prompts to look at how you set up your day to day

Clear purpose: “We’re here to decide …” not “Let’s just talk about…”

Shorter bursts: Aim for shorter blocks with breaks, especially for soak time or strategic thinking.

Combine decision making with slow thinking:  Give people time to think before you ask for input. For example: 2 minutes silent jot down then open discussion or go around the room to get input from every voice.

Finish with clarity: Who’s doing what, by when, and what’s most important?

These are great habits to get into.  When you design meetings and routines this way, you gather up the best parts of the way everyone works and you waste less time and energy whilst getting the best outcomes, winning!

To make brain friendly your normal, all you need to talk about is how people work best.

You won’t be able to grant every wish. That’s okay. The point is to understand your people better and make reasonable adjustments where you can.

Next time you’re planning work, writing an email, running a meeting or setting up a new process, ask yourself what you know about the people in your team and how work is done?  Is this designed for an ideal worker or for the messy, brilliant, overloaded human brains I actually lead?

Brain friendly work isn’t a special program or a label.

It’s the choice to make things clearer, calmer and more workable for the range of brains on your team, including your own.

In a world that’s only getting more complex, it’s how you protect performance, safety, wellbeing and sustainable effort over the long haul.

That’s leadership.