5 Ways to Be More Flexible at Work
Flexibility Improves Your Employment Prospects
Richard Templar suggests that it’s best to treat life as “a friendly sparring partner”. “If you are flexible, you’ll have fun. If you stand your ground, you’re more likely to get knocked around a bit.”¹
Flexible people are highly prized in work and life, because they adapt to changing circumstances well, and they don’t hang on to rigid ideas.
Crises, such as the coronavirus outbreak, especially call for flexibility. Many businesses adapted their workplaces quickly to the pandemic by arranging for their employees to work at home, or by offering takeaways instead of dining in their restaurants. These flexible firms are likely to have the best chance of surviving.
Here are five ways to improve your flexibility at work.
1. Find Creative Solutions to Workplace Dilemmas
The ability to think creatively and adapt helps businesses last, and sometimes even increase their profits. An example is pivoting the business by making another product.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, several breweries decided to produce hand sanitizer to keep afloat, or to add another line to their business. The closing of bars and restaurants during lockdowns forced them to think of new ideas. One Scottish company stopped producing spirits fast, trained staff in the new production processes needed for the sanitizer and reassigned some team members over to distilling.²
Another example of creative thinking is viewing disaster as an opportunity. When Allison Doyle lost her job unexpectedly, it hurt her at the time. However, it also gave her the impetus to “move her career down a different path.”³
You may not need to take such drastic steps as the breweries or to look for a new career, but creative thinking helps you adjust to any difficult situation at work, such as dealing with a fractious colleague.
Take a step back, keep calm, and look at the situation from different perspectives. Is there a new way of dealing with the problem, or can it be solved in an old and trusted way?
2. Developing an Open Mind Helps You to Be More Flexible
Benjamin Franklin used to begin a discussion by saying: “I could be wrong, but…”
He deliberately did this to put people at their ease and to help them feel better if they disagreed with him. It also forced him to be open to changing his mind if he was convinced by new evidence.⁴ This method of opening the argument probably also assisted in keeping the discussion civilized and polite.
This is an excellent example of open-mindedness towards other views. Some other ways of learning to be open-minded are:
- listening to colleagues’ different perspectives on future workplace plans or work dilemmas
- trying out a new language or visiting a new holiday spot, or
- reading other points of view and considering them.
3. Learning New Skills Assists Your Flexibility
The 2016 Pew Research Center survey, “The State of American Jobs,” found that 87% of workers think that they will need to get training and develop new job skills during their careers so that they can keep up with changes in the workplace.⁵
The days of stable employment for life are over, and technology and the working environment are changing constantly, so those who keep ahead are more likely to advance their careers. For example, many workers found themselves forced to learn how to work at home and develop new technical skills, such as holding online conferences, during the pandemic.
Employees who are willing to take on different roles, do part-time study in their field, and work on self-development skills will be far more popular in the future. Flexible employees are also willing to teach others their new skills.
4. Make Challenging Goals One Step at a Time
Making challenging goals also improves your flexibility in the workplace. However, focusing on a large goal might be too overwhelming and make you downhearted, so take small daily steps towards it instead. Break the goal up by writing a list or brain-storming. If the challenge involves team-work, discuss how you can divide it up with your team.
Don’t make your plan or your list so rigid that it can’t be changed when necessary. After Diane Williams arrived home to Fort Lauderdale after a conference, she started searching for her phone to ring her husband because she knew that he was attending a class and he’d arrive at the airport to pick her up late. Luckily, she looked out of the corner of her eyes to see that he had surprised her by arriving early! If she had gone on with her plan, she might have missed him.⁶
5. Positive Workers Are More Popular
Employers look for workers who can stay positive even in rough times and view changes as new opportunities. Here are some ways to be positive at work:
- Look for the silver lining. Even if the situation looks grim, try to find one.
- Encourage others by complimenting them when they do a good job.
- Boost the spirits of others by small acts of kindness.
- Imbibe a sense of community with social outings and parties.
- Be willing to play a different role at work.
- Be willing to learn something new.
These tips should help you become more flexible. When you feel downhearted, remember what Churchill said:
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
References
¹ Templar, R. The Rules of Life, Pearson Education Ltd, Harlow, 2006, quoted in Poulson, Ingrid. RISE, Pan MacMillan, 2008
³ https://www.careertoolbelt.com/top-20-things-to-do-if-you-lose-your-job/
⁴ https://hbr.org/2018/11/a-new-way-to-become-more-open-minded
⁵ https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2017/05/03/the-future-of-jobs-and-jobs-training/
⁶ https://www.dyanwilliams.com/setting-flexible-goals/
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