Is anyone here a manager with Asperger's?

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It got delayed!

It figures! The tour that I was supposed to give to the school group this morning was delayed due to their bus not being on time, by half an hour, and my supervisor was not able to do it in the afternoon.

Now it is on Wednesday.

I have been told a few times not to worry.

But I still can't help worrying anyhow. The date has been set. Now it is Wednesday morning.

Tuesday, I am responsible for throwing a huge party, work-related, and a few town sport stars are supposed to be there. Butterflies in the good old stomach!! I have prepared enough stuff for 200 people.

But everything is planned -- just have to set up the streamers, tables and balloons!

Thanks patdbunny and everyone who has posted here!

I am doing very well for my probation review!

I was SO happy!! !

It seems that all my Aspieness is being put to good use on the job. My manager indicated that she liked how I ask straightforward questions and do not rely on nuances, and how I strive for open communication with staff. I now need to learn to delegate a bit better, and train new staff on the limitations of their roles.

I chose not to disclose. I figure that til the probation is finally up, do not rock the boat in case they will not understand.

However, it feels kind of funny that one of the groups that I work with is a group of kids with Asperger's!! !

Tina

I am a manager with Asperger's.

Communication is very difficult, and people under me seem to think that I am not flexible enough.

Congrats Tina!
My opinion is that the aspie straightforwardness makes it a lot easier to manage people. Expectations, limitations, consequences are clear. No one has to do any mind reading. I'd think it would be harder being a manager as an NT and having to be concerned with modifying your style to suite all the different personalities out there.

OddFinn - I think I might understand the "I'm not flexible enough." I used to struggle with that. What worked for me was to think about upper and lower boundaries, then I could be "flexible" so long as it's within my thought out boundaries. Not understanding what you mean by "communication is very difficult". If you're not good verbally, perhaps putting things in writing?

I manage a small team of technical volunteers at the non-for-profit community radio
station I volunteer at.

Im ok with being a technical team leader, however I could never see myself being responsible for the radio station's entire operations (dealing with budgets, angry announcers, outside events, answering calls)

That would be way beyond me and would be very taxing

I'm managing a team of four right now. I was hired to be a technical writer, and then everyone thought I was so great that I was given the largest team in the department.

It's just a lot of humanity in my face. The one who does terrible work, is very arrogant and hates being supervised by someone her age. The one who loves me and wants to be besties and doesn't get that I can't quite be that, because I'm her manager. The one who hates being supervised by someone younger than him, needs tons of interaction with me, and makes sexually inappropriate comments (now he's sulking because I told him to stop.) The one who assumed I was a fluffy princess, then I didn't live up to his stereotype and now he constantly makes comments about how weird I am for a girl. All of them are fascinated that I don't share much about my personal life, and have Googled me, constantly ask invasive questions, and make me feel like a bug under a microscope.

I plan on sticking it out long enough to make it a boon for my CV, then depart for more isolated pastures. It's tiring enough for me to deal with the emotional ups and downs of family and friends. Dealing with it at work is exhausting and unrewarding.

I use to be a manager at a Subway like 11 years ago. Fun job were it not for the overbearing owners that correct everyone on everything. They made you memorize facts and figures so that you'd sound like you knew it all if you met Jared lol. If you like inventory, stocking, and making thing orderly, it's no so bad, at least I did not think so.

Anyway, my crowning moment in an AS vs NT situation is this: A lady came in to the store hollering and howling about her sandwich being made wrong. Mind you they ordered over the phone and they ordered like 20 sandwiches during the lunch rush so, statistically an error is likely to happen. So she comes in yelling and I told her we would not serve her because of her attitude.

Now, an average NT would have bent over backwards, showered her with a million apologies, gave away booklets with free coupons, etc... Not me, especially since to me it made no logical sense to scream about a sandwich that we could fix easily or replace in about 1 minute. No 'fast food' job is worth being screamed at over a stupid sandwich, so I did what seemed reasonable to me at the time. The crew worshiped me everyday after that...

I'm a senior level ad exec at a small agency and I have two people who work under me and four executives who I answer to. It's VERY overwhelming and I didn't want the position. Basically I was working for two other people who both left. They then hired someone who was completely incompetent and it became too much to stand, so I slowly took over the position.

I think the only reason I'm okay is that this agency is so small and somewhat of a joke so I can get away with a lot. I'm actually waiting for the day they wise up and realize I'm more trouble than I'm worth. D:

I am a trade foreman, and I have 'mild' or 'borderline' ASD. being on the spectrum can be a distinct advantage in managing, as you can focus on the task and achieve results. The downside is that NT's like to spend more enegy on social aspects, such as gossip and critisism, which make you appear aloof to them when you do not indulge. I try to accomodate them as much as I can tolerate their behaviour, but it can become very tiresome.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your encouragement!

It has meant so much to me!

Especially as my manager in my previous job stated unequivocally that I had no management potential. (!) That however, was pre-diagnosis.

Anyway, any recommendations you all can send me about breaking in a new employee? My last new person cried during her initial period, and i am not so great at helping out tearful employees.

Also, if any of you have questions, I have been doing a lot of learning and am always so happy to share the knowledge.

Thanks for the great tips! I've learned more here in 5 minutes, than 15 years of running projects. I am a project manager and a professional engineer. Good tips for being a great manager I read were to use follow up questions, plot road maps, confirm what was said, obey the 7 truths of being an aspie in the work place. Write diaries, journals and document.
I would like to add using mind maps is incredibly helpful! Mind maps uses both sides of the brain. seems a bit crazy, but when you have engineers and artists in the same room, this is the only tool to get the two groups to meld.
Reading body language is highly important. Now it's like train-spotting, and kind of addictive, for me at least. Google westsidetoastmasters book_of_body_language
As far as letting your superior know about being aspie, I think each person should follow their own moral compass. I have two kids on the spectrum, and am proud of who they are, and I support them by showing them I am proud of who they are and I am. But, sharing info like that is quid pro quo.
Would Big Bang Theory be different if it was acknowledged Sheldon was fully planted on the spectrum? I could go either way. When in doubt, what would George Castanza do? The opposite!

I am a training HR manager in a government agency. My team is mostly ok. I have trouble not saying my mind about stupid mistakes some idiots make. I also need to keep my cool which can be difficult. My team all love me so that is great. I always take some their work and do it myself to ease their load.

My tips are....micro manage and be prepared to fix all mistakes as all employees are stupid. Murphy's law.

Westside Toastmasters sounds great! Thanks for the tip!

If I could memorize something like that, or the basic essentials, that would be awesome!

Do you ever ask people questions about their body language? Like. "am I being a bit boring right now? Is this too much detail?"

I only just learned about sarcasm, and how everyone speaks it a bit differently. Like, I am quite overt, and you could not miss my sarcasm EVER, but my coworkers are less obvious, so I try to guess it out by saying "Oh, that's funny." Or some such answer.

Question: if a coworker invites you over to her house for a New Years Party and there are other work folks going, is it rude to decline? It is a small workplace. But I would much rather see "The Hobbit". On the one hand, I could get seen as a nonparticipant, though I do usually go to things, but on the other hand, I could get seen as quirky. Has anyone here managed to do the thing of being friends with coworkers? I like mine, but would not classify them as friends.