Flexible employees find a gap and fill it, take for example, one of the employees gets sick and asks for sick-leave and leaves behind a pile of tasks not done or attended to, but as a flexible employee, you take on your co-workers tasks alongside yours until he or she reports back to work.
These employees go out of their way and assist their colleagues if they’re piled up with much work, and in case of a problem, they help find solutions.
Flexibility can be defined as a means of being able to quickly adapt to new circumstances as they arise, it can also be the ability to transform to short-term change swiftly and calmly, so that you can deal with sudden hitches or tasks proficiently.
It is one of the factors influencing productivity in the workplace.
According to Edwin Mukisa, an entrepreneur and a media expert, employees need to be open-minded to try out new things and take risks.
He says that employers and managers should give chance to their subordinates to participate in decision- making for the betterment of the company, instead of always letting them nod their heads in approval of everything their top bosses decide, even when it won’t be helpful to the organisation.
Mukisa states that flexibility is gained from professional networks—get to learn from them, offer or give the necessary help as well.
"You ought to build a big network from diverse companies and departments, that way, workers expose themselves to different fields, a thing that comes with knowledge and expertise,” he says.
Mukisa notes that workers with creative thinking view problems as an opportunity, for example, flexible employees look at problems, analyse them, and seek better or new ways to solve them.
The entrepreneur stresses that equipping oneself with skills, to improve what you already know allows you to be flexible.
For him, when your workplace doesn’t invest in you to learn new skills, then do it yourself as that is how you will be able to keep up with the changes at work.
He encourages taking on different roles, participating in part-time learning and also teaching your colleagues new skills.
Mukisa explains that positivity is key in the workplace, and is a skill most employers search for—such people find hope in every situation however worse it may be.
They also challenge themselves to learn more so as to take part in diverse tasks. Positive people also applaud their co-workers when they excel in tasks or projects.
Divine Uwase, a business manager in Kigali points out that flexibility doesn’t always come easy as you may fail at an important task, but that is bound to happen sometimes as things won’t be smooth all the time. But one should move past their shortcomings and find ways to avert such problems in the future.
She also notes that don’t be the kind of employee that thinks that you can do everything on your own, sometimes we all need help, it can be help with the tasks, or help with information and new ideas. ‘Any way that can make your work much better, ask for guidance from your colleagues. You might be good at something, but two heads or more produce better results.’
Uwase is of the view that you ought to make positive relationships with your work colleagues as that way, when a problem arises, you obviously have the support you need to adapt to changing situations.
Research shows that a few minutes of meditation could help one improve their thinking flexibility at work.
Experts say that leaving your comfort zone and learning new things at work is a proactive way to become more adaptable and flexible at work; by taking the initiative to step outside of your daily routine, you’re preparing yourself for the inevitable moment when changes to that routine are out of your control—and you will be able to adapt better when those changes come as a result.