• All breakout activities for today can be found on this page.
• Please keep the tab open for ease.
• Scroll to each new activity when the time comes.
• Please make sure that all voices are heard and select a speaker, when required, to share a summary of what has been discussed. 

Breakout Activity One: Case Study

Instructions

Your Leader will be the person born earliest in the year.

The Leader will guide you through the activity, ensuring all voices are heard.

1. Discuss Case Study and

2. Consider the related Discussion Prompts

3. Suggest Inclusive Practice Responses

4. Select a speaker to share a summary with wider group on our return to the Main Room.

Scenario:

A veterinary practice is recruiting a new vet and advertises the role with the following description:

“We are looking for a confident, dominant leader who can thrive under pressure, take control in emergency situations, and cope with a fast-paced, high-pressure environment. The successful candidate must be tough, decisive, and resilient enough to handle demanding clients and long hours.”

After the advert is published, some neurodivergent graduates share (informally) that the advert felt intimidating and unrealistic. They interpreted “dominant,” “tough,” and “resilient under pressure” as meaning the practice valued forceful personalities, constant stress tolerance, and long unsustainable hours — all of which would have discouraged them from applying, despite having excellent clinical skills.

Discussion Prompts:

· How might gendered and high-pressure wording (e.g., “dominant,” “resilient to demanding clients,” “long hours”) discourage neurodivergent applicants who may value structure, clarity, and work–life balance?

· What qualities are actually essential for success in veterinary practice — e.g., clinical reasoning, compassion, teamwork, adaptability, attention to detail?

· How can we redesign job descriptions to attract a wider and more diverse pool, including women, non-binary, and neurodivergent applicants?



Breakout Activity Two:

Staff Case Studies (Performance & Development )

Instructions

Case Study One (Room One)

Case Study Two (Room Two)

Case Study Three (Room Three)

Your Leader will be the person born latest in the year.

The Leader will guide you through the activity, ensuring all voices are heard.

1. Discuss allocated Case Study and

2. Consider the related Discussion Prompts

3. Suggest Possible Adjustments

4. Select a speaker to share with wider group.

Case Study One (Room One): Anna (Vet Candidate)

Scenario:
Anna, a talented veterinary graduate with excellent clinical knowledge, applies for a Veterinary Surgeon role. She performs well in a practical skills assessment with animals but struggles in a panel interview where senior staff ask multiple, rapid-fire questions. Afterwards, she withdraws, saying the interview felt overwhelming and “set up to fail.”

Discussion Prompts:

· What recruitment barriers in a veterinary setting (e.g. high-pressure interviews, clinical scenario role-plays) may disadvantage neurodivergent candidates?

· How can interview processes be adapted to allow candidates like Anna to demonstrate their strengths?

· What changes could leadership (e.g. Clinical/Practice Directors, Practice Managers) make to recruitment and onboarding processes?

Case Study Two (Room Two): Charli (Newly Hired Nurse)

Scenario:
Charli, a new Veterinary Nurse, quickly builds strong bonds with clients and colleagues. However, recent changes to stock-control and compliance paperwork have triggered stress, leading to errors. Charli is doubting their ability to succeed and is considering leaving.

Discussion Prompts:

· How might sudden changes to procedures (e.g. drug logs, insurance forms, rota systems) disproportionately impact neurodivergent nurses or receptionists?

· What role should leadership (Head Nurse, Practice Manager) play in communicating changes inclusively?

· How can systems be designed to accommodate different processing styles?

Case Study Three (Room Three): Jo (Mid-Career Receptionist)

Scenario:
Jo is a long-standing receptionist, much loved by clients for warmth and creativity in problem-solving. However, Jo struggles with long team meetings, often misplaces paperwork, and forgets to pass on non-routine messages. Colleagues value Jo’s people skills but feel frustrated, and the Head Receptionist is considering excluding Jo from rota planning and client-care initiatives.

Discussion Prompts:

· How can Jo’s strengths (client rapport, creative solutions) be harnessed while supporting executive function challenges?

· What risks arise if Jo is excluded from team projects?

· How can Practice Directors and managers embed systems that support both strengths and challenges across all roles?

Some helpful links to assist with this activity:

ACAS information on Reasonable Adjustments

GOV.UK information

Breakout Activity Three:

Receptive/Expressive Communication Activity

Instructions

1. The person whose name is first alphabetically will be the leader of this activity.

2. Your leader will decide who will be Speaker A and who will be Speaker B.

3. Your leader will guide you through each part of the activity below:

PART ONE

In a moment, SPEAKER A is going to talk for one minute about their weekend and SPEAKER B is just going to listen.

OK – off you go [1 minute].

And stop!

How did that feel? Easy? Good!

PART TWO

Now, SPEAKER B is going to talk about their weekend for one minute. BUT they are not allowed to use any words containing the letter ‘e’.

Ready? Off you go! [1 minute].

And stop!

How did that feel? 

Were you able to speak as fluently as your partner? 

How did that make you feel? 

SPEAKER A - how did it feel listening as your partner was struggling to put their thoughts into words? Frustrating? Annoying?

Discuss:

What was the purpose of this exercise? 

How might it relate to your role? 

Additional Breakout Activity:

The Employee Lifecycle from an HR perspective

• Recruiting & Interview (Room 1)

• Performance Management (Room 2)

• Career Development (Room 3)

With a neuro-inclusive approach:

Discuss ways to enhance the experience of underrepresented candidates/colleagues and give an examples of what good looks like.

What would an inclusive leader do to demonstrate fair and equitable treatment of neurodivergent staff?

This might be something that you’ve experienced or something that you yourself do.

• Recruiting & Interview (Room 1)

• Performance Management (Room 2)

• Career Development (Room 3)