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Your team lead calls a meeting to let you all know they’re changing the normal workflow. Instead of only running your work by the product department, you must also gain the marketing team’s approval. You want to offer a better cadence but they already approved and implemented the new approval process.
Sudden workflow changes like this can send you out of your comfort zone. You must decide whether to embrace this change with positivity and go with the flow or dig your heels in, stick to the old way, and retreat in the face of a new challenge.
But this second option isn’t viable in most work situations as you’ll slow down everyone’s workflow and impede your professional development. Instead, you can foster several types of adaptability skills to take on any process change or challenge that comes your way.
What are adaptability skills?
Adaptability skills are proficiencies you can use to adjust to new situations and change your actions as needed. This involves privileging strategic thinking and being open-minded when encountering obstacles.
Constructive criticism, unexpected changes, and worst-case scenarios happen in any work environment. That's why adaptability skills are important. They aid your decision-making and help you decide how to set goals. If you’re adaptable, you can continue moving forward instead of dwelling on the issues you face.
While both are equally valuable, adaptability differs from flexibility because it demands new circumstances. Working later or accommodating team members suggests flexibility and openness to adjust. But adapting means you’re facing a unique situation, no matter how prepared you are.
7 types of adaptability skills
Adaptability skills are often either cognitive, personality-based, or emotional.
Cognitive adaptability involves processing new information and adjusting your thinking accordingly. This adaptability type draws on your ability to learn, curiosity, and open-mindedness.
Personality-based adaptability means seeing a situation for what it is and adapting your behavior to respond accordingly. This relies on resourcefulness, communication, and teamwork skills, and is helpful in the workplace.
Emotional adaptability focuses on acknowledging, accepting, and moving past changes, which draws on your resilience.
Let’s dive deeper into the adaptability skills you can cultivate to improve your work performance.
1. Curiosity
Curiosity fosters open-mindedness and a growth mindset. With an inquisitive spirit, you’re more likely to embrace new situations and view challenges as opportunities for growth and exploration. You’ll approach tasks with curiosity to develop your skills and promote innovative thinking in your workplace.
Here are a few related skills that enhance your curiosity:
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Calculated risk-taking: Taking well-informed risks teaches you to learn from your mistakes, embrace failure, and think outside the box.
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A positive attitude: Greet challenges with a positive outlook to see them as growth opportunities instead of setbacks.
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Creative thinking: Consider unique solutions to everyday problems to help your company supersede the competition.
2. Learning
Whether you learn independently or through collaboration, the ability to learn new things means you quickly acquire and retain knowledge, skills, and perspectives that help you adapt to new situations.
A few skills related to your ability to learn include:
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Critical thinking: Effective learning habits rely on critical thinking skills, including analyzing information, evaluating arguments, and making informed decisions.
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Continuous learning: When you make a deliberate effort to continuously learn, you actively seek out new experiences and information, creating a feedback loop of development.
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Feedback acceptance: Being more receptive to feedback improves your ability to learn as you’ll transform potential problems into possibilities for growth.
3. Resourcefulness
Resourcefulness refers to the ability to effectively solve problems and find solutions in the face of challenges or limited resources when working toward team or personal goals.
This requires creativity and innovation to develop unique and effective solutions and is particularly valuable in the workplace, as it allows individuals to navigate and overcome obstacles, even when resources are scarce.
Show resourcefulness by drawing upon the following skills:
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Creative thinking: Come up with original ideas to approach problems from a fresh perspective.
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Problem-solving: Identify, analyze, and resolve problems systematically and effectively.
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Budgeting: Take the initiative to set and stay within a budget to demonstrate you’re aware of a new challenge’s constraints and are stepping up to meet them with the resources at hand.
4. Communication skills
Communication skills like being a good listener and understanding nonverbal signals enable you to build stronger relationships and effectively navigate complex and ever-changing situations.
Upskill the following items to strengthen your communication skills:
- Emotional intelligence: Recognize and manage your emotions and others’ to communicate effectively and empathize with your team.
- Active listening: This involves paying attention and being present when others speak to understand what they’re saying instead of focusing on when you can interject.
- Nonverbal communication: Good communication skills don’t stop at listening and speaking. Understanding nonverbal cues like gestures, facial expressions, and posture helps you pick up on how a person truly feels.
5. Organizational skills
Being organized ensures you know what resources are available to you, whether personal contacts, time, or energy. Organizational skills also help you determine what's necessary to achieve your goals or finish your work.
Key related skills include:
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Project management: Manage your tasks to balance your workload by breaking larger items into less overwhelming ones and creating checklists to monitor progress.
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Time management: Keep tabs on how much time you take to complete tasks so you can adapt to changing project schedules and due dates.
6. Teamwork skills
When you work as a team, personality types and opinions might clash. But that won’t matter if everyone sees the value of having diverse people and perspectives at work. Conflict may occur, but you’ll be able to adapt and address the situation well thanks to your teamwork skills.
Here are a few of the best ones to foster:
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Leadership skills: Adaptable leaders inspire others to thrive under pressure and effectively collaborate to solve complex issues.
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Compromise: You’re working with your team to achieve a common goal — don’t lose sight of that. Teamwork requires a willingness to compromise and understanding how to set aside your preferences for the greater good.
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Conflict resolution: This draws upon your communication skills to manage and resolve conflicts within a team. Use this skill to find common ground and remind everyone of overarching objectives.
7. Resilience
Resilience allows you to address obstacles straight-on. You’ll bounce back from setbacks, adapt quickly to change, and persevere through tough times.
Here are three related skills that’ll improve your resilience:
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Self-confidence: Having a strong sense of self-esteem and belief in your abilities will help you take on challenges, persist through difficulties, and learn from your experiences.
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Determination: Maintaining a solid resolve will help you stay motivated and accomplish more goals.
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Diligence: Apply consistent effort and attention to your responsibilities to ensure you steadily move toward success.
How to know if you’re an adaptable employee
While there’s always room for improvement, you might already use many of the skills listed above. Here are five signs you're an adaptable person:
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You're present: Rather than dwell on the past or worry too much about the future, you put mindfulness to the test and embrace change as it happens.
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You use positive self-talk: You use positive thinking like “I can do this with a little hard work” rather than thoughts of self-doubt to motivate you.
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You see the bigger picture: When challenges arise, you quickly remember your overall objectives so you don’t feel discouraged or distracted.
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You like to experiment: Doing things the same way forever doesn't level you up and gets boring. Instead, you look for new ways of doing your work and learn something in the process.
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You exhibit empathy: You’re an understanding individual who recognizes the importance of emotional and cognitive empathy when responding to teammates as they react to challenging situations.
How to teach adaptability
If you hold a leadership role, it’s advantageous for you to teach adaptability skills to your coworkers. Here are a few ways you can do so:
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Have them visualize one thing they could be more adaptable about professionally
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Give them a tour of all the resources they have access to
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Hold monthly seminars where you practice problem-solving challenges together
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Create a board (virtual or physical) where you share new findings or exciting information regarding adaptability or team member progress
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Set up specific, organized lines of communication, like Slack channels called #questions, for them to use
The importance of adaptability for mental health
Adaptability is essential for your mental health, no matter your occupation. Students, teachers, and professional athletes all face similar struggles, like change and uncertainty.
But if you’re more rigid in your thinking, new and scary situations might throw you off kilter, and you won’t feel prepared and supported to address them.
One study found that life satisfaction, the ability to adapt, and one’s support system are all connected. People adapted better to change with a solid social support system to help them. As these participants’ environments changed and new things came their way, they could adapt easier.
With resources and help at your fingertips — like easily accessible communication platforms and a helpful manager — you’ll feel confident and willing to embrace change and combat the stress and anxiety it might bring with it.
Patience and adaptability will get you closer to your goals
Fostering adaptability is all about practice. The next time a challenge arises or a change surprises you, consider the types of adaptability skills you can employ — like positive thinking and communication skills — to effectively address this situation.
Every time you do so, you’re strengthening these skills and making them habitual.
Eventually, you won’t need to think about how to approach a situation that puts you out of your comfort zone — you’ll have adaptability locked in.
