Change Happens: Embracing Adaptability
Change and adaptability has been on my mind a lot over the past few months.
At the start of 2025, there was some expected change given the shift of leadership at the national level and as well as within local government. We expected some ups and downs, but no one could have predicted the constant rate of changes we have had. This ever changing environment impacted our clients, our families and friends, and sometimes ourselves. One or two changes can be manageable and we can adapt accordingly.
“How to you manage change after change coming through on a constant basis? How do you keep adapting without becoming overwhelmed? What if you are a manager, or advising management, in an office environment with lots of change? ”
When you learn about a change, take time to reflect and ask questions. Discussing concerns or opportunities with others can help you adapt and move forward with the change. Periods of transition will typically have some rough spots and even mistakes. Give your colleagues grace and re-evaluate existing processes that might need to be adapted.
Be aware of how the stress from changes could be impacting your body. Take breaks during the work day and clearly communicate any boundaries you might have during this period. Continue to circle back and remind yourself about the motivation for the change. If conditions change or expectations aren't feasible anymore, communicate them as soon as possible.
If you are a manager helping to communicate these changes, be sure to be clear and concise about what is (and what is not) changing. Expect that your team might not react the same way. Some staff might need time to process the change, while others might want to jump right in and brainstorm next steps. Knowing when to share the change is also important. Do you share the news as soon as your learn it? Or do you bring in a few trusted staff members to weigh the pros and cons and draft an initial plan or next steps for the rest of the staff to react to?
“As a consultant, change can impact us in different ways.”
You could be asked to be that trusted thought leader to figure out the next steps before sharing with the rest of the staff. You could be asked to implement the change based on a set plan. Your consulting income could be impacted as the change no longer continues your contract.
“In all these cases, adaptability is a key skill.”
Adaptability helps deepen your problem solving skills as you brainstorm options and select the path forward. Adaptability allows you to keep an open mind by focusing on asking 'why' questions to understand the situation. Adaptability can also push you out of your comfortable zone. If we always pick the safe and comfortable option, how can we grow and build new skills? Adapting to new challenging situations can help expand that comfort zone for the future.
For me, I've put these adaptability skills to test as I support clients going through change, but also in the day to day moments as I track project and task deadlines. I don't think there has been a timeline that I haven't tweaked and adjusted. Giving myself (and the team) grace to adjust the dates and reset expectations has allowed more adaptability. Because change is going to come - whether it is a new initiative, or a major reorganization, or a retirement.
“When we leverage our adaptability skills, we bring an new mindset to changes that might occur.”