Change is good, as the saying goes. And, for the most part, it’s true. But change can also be overwhelming, especially when it occurs in rapid succession.
This has been the reality for many organizations in recent years. From transitioning to remote work during the pandemic to grappling with a growing skills shortage, organizations have faced numerous disruptions, putting them in a position to react to change instead of initiating it.
As the pace of change continues to move at full speed, skills like adaptability and agility are more important than ever. They enable organizations and teams to better navigate uncertainty, pivot quickly, and act on new opportunities faster.
In this article, we’ll discuss five strategies for organizations to build adaptable and agile teams. By the way, this article is based on our recent webinar, Thriving in the New Normal: Essential Skills for Organizational Success. I highly recommend watching for a more in-depth exploration of building adaptable and agile organizations, teams, and individuals.
A quick refresher on adaptability and agility.
I use the terms “adaptability” and “agility” throughout this article, but they aren’t the same things. Let me explain:
Adaptability is the ability to adjust to new information and situations. This involves being open to changing your approach or mindset in response to new circumstances. For example, a company shows adaptability by shifting its business model in response to a market downturn. By pivoting its strategies and operations, the company can meet new realities.
Agility, on the other hand, is the ability to respond to change quickly. The key ingredient here is speed, an element that adaptability may lack. Think of a startup that quickly iterates on its product based on customer feedback. By executing changes swiftly, the startup can stay agile.
5 Strategies to Build More Adaptable and Agile Teams
1. Promote coaching over command and control
Helps with: Adaptability and Agility
Your teams can only be adaptable and agile if your culture supports it.
In command-and-control cultures, teams may feel micromanaged by rigid hierarchies and strict directives. This can stifle innovation and any autonomy to act quickly or creatively.
In a coaching culture, managers provide guidance and support rather than issuing directives. They set clear expectations and trust their team to meet specific outcomes. In practice, this might look like a team member who, pressed for time, decides to skip a meeting but watches the recording later, or reallocates their time from a less urgent task to a high-impact one.
This approach encourages teams to take ownership and accountability, empowering them to make decisions and manage their work in a way that makes sense to them.
2. Move away from “doing more with less”
Helps with: Adaptability and Agility
Facing tighter budgets and team restructurings, many organizations have embraced the mindset of “doing more with less.” While this philosophy sounds effective in theory, it often diminishes team effectiveness in the long run.
With no clear hierarchy of priorities, teams become swamped with competing demands and endless meetings, unable to focus on what truly matters. This lack of focus also reduces their ability to manage unexpected changes and react swiftly.
Instead, organizations should focus on a select few urgent and important tasks. This strategy, sometimes known as ruthless prioritization, reduces the noise of less critical activities, allowing teams to concentrate on what adds the most value and adapt quickly to changes.
3. Build out human-centric soft skills
Helps with: Adaptability and Agility
While equipping your team with in-demand technical skills is vital for maintaining adaptability and agility, human-centric skills are equally crucial. In fact, a study by Boston Consulting Group found that tech-centric jobs now demand a balance of hard and soft skills, including leadership and effective communication.
Even if jobs and industries change, skills like strategic thinking, communication, self-awareness, and the ability to develop others are infinitely transferable. When leaders have these skills, they are better at handling change and driving innovation, boosting their organization’s adaptability.
4. Make accountability easy
Helps with: Agility
Real agility thrives on accountability and well-defined responsibilities. This might seem counterintuitive at first — after all, isn’t agility about going where the needs are and stepping into different roles?
Yet, when teams are expected to do everything — or they’re unsure of who’s doing what — it creates ambiguity and hinders effectiveness. True agility emerges when each person understands their specific role and is empowered to deliver on their commitments.
5. Decentralize decision-making
Helps with: Adaptability and Agility
It’s hard for teams to stay agile if they need sign-off for every decision. This is especially common in hierarchical organizations where decision-making tends to be slower. Information is sent up the ladder, followed by a waiting period until a decision is passed down.
A good example is Microsoft. Historically, Microsoft was known for its command-and-control management style. This approach often stifled innovation and slowed down decision-making. In the early 2010s, CEO Satya Nadella introduced the concept of a “growth mindset.” His approach focused on empowering employees to make decisions and take ownership of their projects. Employees were encouraged to experiment, innovate, and learn from their failures.
This cultural shift boosted employee engagement, spurred innovation, and enhanced Microsoft’s ability to adapt to new market demands, playing a crucial role in the company’s resurgence as a leader in technology.
Back to You
Organizations play a critical role in empowering their teams to not only respond to change but thrive within it. Ultimately, it starts with your culture.
A coaching culture, in particular, provides the necessary conditions for teams to be both adaptable and agile. It empowers teams to make decisions, prioritize their work, and adapt swiftly to new challenges and opportunities.
To learn how to build a strong coaching culture, check out this helpful guide.
