Building adaptability to future-proof your team

What is adaptability?

Adaptability is the ability to adjust to new conditions, challenges, or environments. It involves responding with a positive, solution-focused mindset. In the workplace, it means being open to change, learning new skills when needed, and staying flexible in how work gets done.

For teams, adaptability shows up as collaboration, creativity, and resilience under pressure. It is not about having all the answers. It is about being willing to shift gears and grow when circumstances change.

Why adaptability matters

The business world has never moved faster. Technology is disrupting entire industries overnight, remote work is reshaping how we collaborate, and market volatility is keeping even the most seasoned leaders on their toes. In this environment, adaptability in the workplace has become a crucial factor for team performance.

Rigid teams struggle with change: they miss opportunities, resist innovation, and create bottlenecks that slow down the entire organisation. In contrast, adaptable teams act as a competitive advantage, turning uncertainty into opportunity and challenges into catalysts for growth.

Here’s how you can build a team that doesn’t just weather change but thrives through it. 

What does an adaptable team look like?

Adaptable teams share distinct characteristics that set them apart from more rigid counterparts. They approach change with curiosity rather than fear, viewing new challenges as opportunities to learn and grow. Open communication is a constant, helping ensure information flows freely and that everyone stays aligned during transitions.

The hallmarks of an adaptable team go beyond simply accepting change. These teams actively seek out new perspectives, embed continuous learning into their culture, and rely on strong collaboration to navigate complex situations together. Perhaps most importantly, they can pivot quickly when circumstances shift, without losing momentum or morale.

Examples of adaptable team behaviours include:

• Proactively upskilling to stay ahead of industry or technological changes
• Encouraging constructive feedback and using it to improve processes or strategies
• Reassigning roles or responsibilities quickly when business needs evolve
• Running regular retrospectives to reflect on performance and identify improvements
• Maintaining transparency during change, with open discussions about risks, impacts, and ideas
• Collaborating across functions or disciplines to solve problems from multiple angles
• Testing and experimenting with new tools or workflows, even when outcomes are uncertain

On the flip side, teams that struggle with adaptability often display clear warning signs. They resist change initiatives, show decreased engagement during transition periods, and operate in silos that block cross-functional collaboration. These teams may also find it difficult to maintain performance when faced with new processes or technologies.

Hiring for adaptability

The foundation of an adaptable team begins with smart hiring decisions. Hiring for adaptability means prioritising candidates who demonstrate a growth mindset and view challenges as opportunities to learn, not obstacles to avoid. Use situational judgment questions during interviews to understand how candidates have handled change in the past.

Try questions like:

• Tell me about a time when you had to completely change your approach to a project midway through. How did you adapt?
• Describe a situation where you had to learn a new skill quickly to meet changing job requirements.

These types of questions reveal not only what candidates did, but how they think about change, which is a key insight into their adaptability.

Curiosity and learning agility should be considered essential traits. Look for candidates who ask thoughtful questions about your company’s future direction, who pursue learning opportunities outside of formal education, and who can clearly explain how they stay up to date in their field.

Developing adaptability within your team

Building a more adaptable team doesn’t require a complete overhaul. With small, intentional actions, you can foster greater flexibility over time. Adaptability can be developed. It starts with the right approach.

Encourage cross-functional collaboration

Give team members exposure to different roles and departments through job shadowing or collaborative projects. When people understand how other parts of the business operate, they become naturally more flexible in their own roles and better equipped to pivot when change arises.

Create a safe space for experimentation

Innovation and adaptability thrive in environments where people feel safe to speak up, try new ideas, and occasionally fail. As a leader, you can model this by sharing your own lessons learned and encouraging others to do the same. When your team sees mistakes as learning opportunities instead of career risks, they will be far more willing to adapt and innovate.

Give them room to test new ideas

Whether through innovation sprints, pilot projects, or simply dedicating time each week to creative problem-solving, your team needs space to try new approaches. These initiatives do not have to be large-scale. Some of the best breakthroughs come from small experiments.

Make adaptability part of performance reviews

This is something you can implement immediately. Make adaptability a measurable part of performance conversations. Highlight specific examples where team members responded well to change or achieved improved outcomes through flexible thinking. When people know adaptability is recognised and rewarded, they are more likely to develop it.

Invest in upskilling opportunities

Provide access to learning platforms, online courses, and professional development resources that build the skills and confidence your team needs to tackle change. A team that is constantly learning is a team that is prepared for anything.

Leading by example

As a leader, your behaviour sets the tone for how everyone else responds to uncertainty. The good news is that demonstrating adaptability yourself builds credibility and inspires others to follow suit.

Show resilience when things get tough

Model a steady, solution-focused approach when navigating uncertainty. Let your team see that change isn't something to fear, it's something to manage thoughtfully. When you stay calm and focused during turbulent times, your team learns to do the same.

Be real about challenges, but stay open to input 

Don't pretend everything is fine when it's not. Talk openly about obstacles and involve your team in brainstorming solutions. This shows that adaptation is a shared responsibility, not a top-down directive. Your team will respect your honesty and feel more invested in finding solutions together.

Give your team ownership in how change happens 

Instead of dictating how changes will be implemented, invite your team to help shape the process. When people are involved in creating the solution, they're far more likely to support it and they often come up with better ideas than you might have on your own.

Actively seek out new ideas

Make time to explore "what if" scenarios and challenge the way things have always been done. Ask your team questions like "What would happen if we tried this differently?" or "How might we approach this from a completely new angle?"

Value different perspectives

Diverse viewpoints lead to stronger solutions. Create an inclusive environment where different approaches and ideas are not just welcomed but actively sought out and leveraged.

Consider sharing your own story about navigating a major change: what you learned, how your team reacted, and what you'd do differently next time. This kind of vulnerability and openness creates the psychological safety that adaptable teams need to thrive.

Tools and tactics you can use right now

Ready to turn these ideas into action? Here are some practical approaches you can implement straight away to start building adaptability within your team:

Try "change sprints" for low-risk practise 

Design short, focused initiatives that give your team the chance to flex their creative and problem-solving muscles on real, but non-critical, challenges. Think of them as training exercises for bigger changes in the future.

Create safe spaces for experimentation

Empower team members to try new approaches in areas where the stakes are low but the learning potential is high. This might mean testing a new meeting format, trialling a different project management method, or experimenting with communication tools.

Mix things up regularly

Rotate responsibilities or change up team pairings from time to time. This helps prevent people from becoming too comfortable with a single approach and builds cross-functional capability across the team. Even small changes can spark fresh thinking.

Make time for reflection 

Host retrospectives after any change is implemented, regardless of the outcome. Ask what was learned, what could be improved, and how future transitions might be smoother. These conversations turn every change into a learning opportunity.

Use tools that support flexible thinking

The right technology can make adaptability easier to foster. Consider tools like:

• Agile boards such as Trello or monday.com, which help track shifting priorities and manage change in real time
• Collaborative platforms like Miro or FigJam, ideal for brainstorming and visual thinking during periods of uncertainty
• Learning platforms such as LinkedIn Learning or Coursera, which support self-directed development and skill-building

The key is to start small and build momentum. You don’t need to implement everything at once. Choose one or two tactics that suit your team and context, then expand from there

The competitive advantage of adaptability

Adaptability isn't just another soft skill to check off your list. It’s a core organisational capability that directly influences your team’s ability to succeed in an unpredictable future. Future-ready teams are built through intentional effort, not by chance.

As a hiring manager or team leader, you play a critical role in shaping how your organisation responds to change. Every hiring decision, every development opportunity, and every action you take during times of transition contributes to your team’s adaptive capacity.

The investment you make in adaptability today will pay off when the next wave of change hits your industry.

Ready to build a more adaptable team from the ground up?

Adaptability is just one of the essential soft skills that separate good hires from great ones. Download our soft skills e-guide for hiring managers to learn more about how to cultivate soft skills in your team and identify them during the hiring process.