5 WAYS TO BE MORE AGILE AT WORK

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, one of the most important skills you can add to your set is agility. Being adaptable will help you to solve problems, overcome challenges and regroup when you encounter difficulties. Here are a few ways you can teach yourself.

Let it go
Sometimes things don’t go as planned. That brilliant idea you spent months working on gets thrown out within the first 5 minutes of your presentation. Rather than getting caught up in what was or what could have been, you need to move forward with an alternate solution. The agile employee doesn’t get stuck on one thing, they let it go if it’s not working, and they’re always moving forward.

Don’t be afraid of failure
In 2005, technology entrepreneur Elon Musk and Space X were first starting to create the Falcon I and Falcon V rockets. During this time, Musk said, ‘Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating.’ It is often a fear of failure that results in us not thinking out of the box. Don’t be afraid to test new ideas and strategies.

Upskill
Technology is changing the way a lot of people work. As a result, companies and people need to adapt so that they can keep up with those changes. One way to do this is to upskill. Acquiring new skills will allow you to flex that agility muscle in new and exciting ways. You also need to be willing to unlearn what you’re used to and be open to being taught something new.

Learn to move on quickly
If you’ve missed a deadline or suffered a financial loss, it might be quite difficult to look on the bright side. But when you do you’ll notice that things aren’t all bad and that there are lessons to be learnt from your experience. When you are able to reframe the way you look at things, you will be more equipped to make changes and be more adaptable in the future.

Ask questions
According to the recruitment agency Robert Half, ‘Asking questions is a great way to learn more and challenge established ways of doing things, a key component of being adaptable.’ However, make sure you’re asking the right questions; questions that are well-researched
and informed. Many great ideas and insights have come from discussions and questioning ideas with innovative colleagues and mentors.