10 Adaptability Activities for Your Employees
Are you in search of adaptability activities for your employees?
Adaptability is an important skill one needs in order to face challenges, learn new skills, and quickly respond to changes. As a leader, you might want your employees to be more adaptable. When they are highly adaptable, they will effectively communicate with others, solve problems, and cooperate well in a team.
In this article, let’s see 10 adaptability team building activities for employees in your workplace. They can help your teams become highly flexible and effective in the changing work environment.
What Should You Consider Before Conducting These Activities?
Before conducting adaptability activities for employees, it is essential to consider several key factors. This will ensure their success and effectiveness. So, consider the following points:
Clear Objectives: Define the goals and outcomes you want to achieve through these activities, such as improving flexibility or resilience.
Team Dynamics: Understand the team’s strengths, weaknesses, and preferences to choose exercises that suit their needs.
Time and Resources: Ensure you have sufficient time and resources to conduct the exercises effectively.
Relevance to Work: Choose activities that are relevant to the employees’ work and challenges, making it easier for them to apply the learnings.
Participant Comfort: Create a comfortable environment where employees feel encouraged to participate and share their thoughts.
Debriefing and Feedback: Plan for a debriefing session to discuss the learnings and gather feedback from participants to improve future activities.
10 Adaptability Activities for Your Employees
Here are some adaptability team building games that you can try with your employees.
#1. Diversity Poll
This is one of the fantastic adaptability activities to deal with diversity in the workplace. It can help your employees understand the different values as well as the beliefs of their colleagues.
Time: 5-15 minutes
Materials: None
Participants: Groups of any size
Instructions
- First, you can tell a debating statement like:
“I like working in the comfort of my home rather than going to the office daily.”
“Vegetarian food is healthier than non-vegetarian food.”
- Now, instruct the team members to respond to the statement by expressing “thumps up” if they agree, “thumps down” if they disagree, and “cross the arms” if they are not sure.
- Then, ask them to explain the reason for that response. Also, allow them to change their response if they wish to.
- Repeat this process by trying 3-5 statements of your choice (something related to your business or anything else).
Debrief
Discuss the employees’ thought processes and perspectives on various statements. Reflect on the reasons behind their agreements, disagreements, or uncertainties.
You can also read: 10 Soft Skills Team Building Activities (With Debrief)
#2. Dream Workplace
Dream Workplace is an amazing activity that will train your employees to be more adaptable. It highlights the importance of effective communication and creativity while dealing with challenging work conditions.
Time: You decide
Materials: Flipcharts, paper, and markers of different colors
Participants: 3-8 people per group
Instructions
- Initially, provide a flipchart, paper sheets, as well as markers to each group.
- Next, instruct them to draw their dream workplace on the flipchart, regardless of the cost.
- Also, make sure that the employees do not communicate verbally. They can only communicate by writing down their ideas on paper.
- Finally, each team should explain their design.
Debrief
Figure out how the team members communicated non-verbally, and identify the challenges they faced. Discuss the creative solutions that emerged and their potential applications.
You can also read: 10 Change Management Exercises to Improve Adaptability
#3. Changing Requirement
This exercise challenges employees to adapt to changing requirements and priorities. It promotes flexibility and creative problem-solving.
Time: 10-20 minutes
Materials: Simple objects like paper, cards, etc., depending on the task
Participants: 3-8 people per group
Instructions
- Divide the participants into small groups.
- Provide each group with materials for a specific task such as building a tower or creating a marketing campaign.
- After 5 minutes, introduce a sudden change in requirements such as a new design constraint or a shift in target audience.
- Each group must adapt their work to meet the new requirements without starting from scratch.
Debrief
Talk about the challenges of adapting to changing requirements and priorities. Explore the strategies for effective communication, problem-solving, and flexibility in the face of uncertainty.
You can also read: 10 Risk Taking Team Building Activities (With Debrief)
#4. Name Choices
This activity trains your employees to be adaptable to changes. Moreover, it encourages them to respect the viewpoints of others.
Time: 10-20 minutes
Materials: None
Participants: Need at least 4 different teams of any size
Instructions
- Initially, instruct the employees to discuss and come up with two name choices for their team.
- Now, ask them to choose one name from these two that best describes them. Make sure they keep it a secret.
- Next, tell them that they can finalize their chosen name only if other groups approve it. Now, each team should share the two choices with the other groups, and invite them to vote for the one they like.
- Finally, each team can compare the results in these two cases.
Debrief
Figure out how the teams adapted to the unexpected requirement of getting approval from other groups. Discuss what they learned about the importance of collaboration and stakeholder feedback.
#5. Puzzled Hands
This is one of the traditional team building activities for adaptability as well as problem-solving. Here your employees will understand the importance of flexibility in collaboration.
Time: 5-10 minutes
Materials: None
Participants: 4-10 people per group
Instructions
- At first, instruct each team to stand in a circle.
- Then, each person should hold the right hand of the person who is standing across the circle using his right hand.
- After that, each person should hold the left hand of a different person with his left hand. Nobody can hold the hand of someone who is standing directly next to them.
- Now, ask them to unravel everyone without breaking their connections.
Debrief
Identify how the employees collaborated to solve the challenge and what strategies worked best. Reflect on how this experience applies to real-world challenges requiring teamwork and adaptability.
#6. Role Reversal
This activity challenges employees to adapt to new roles and responsibilities. It promotes flexibility, empathy, and understanding.
Time: You decide
Materials: Paper and pen
Participants: 3-6 people per group
Instructions
- Divide the participants into small groups. Next, assign each group member a specific role (e.g., leader, team member, client, etc.).
- Have each group work on a task or project with their assigned roles. For instance, designing a new product.
- After a set time, suddenly switch roles within each group (e.g., leader becomes team member, team member becomes leader, etc.).
- Each group must adapt to their new roles and continue working on the task.
Debrief
Discuss the challenges of adapting to new roles and responsibilities. Highlight the importance of flexibility, empathy, and understanding in a rapidly changing work environment.
#7. Silent Concert
The silent concert is one of the entertaining exercises to make your staff more adaptable. This activity can train your employees to use their adaptability skills in teamwork.
Time: You decide
Materials: A smartphone or music player
Participants: 3-8 people per group
Instructions
- Start by instructing each team to conduct a musical concert for their favorite song. They can do this by lip-sync, air guitar, etc.
- Next, give them some time to assign various roles for each member – for example, singers, guitarists, violinists, etc. Then, they can do the rehearsal.
- Now, ask them to play the music and perform. Finally, identify the best performances.
Debrief
Discuss how effective role assignment and teamwork enhanced the group’s musical performance. Highlight the key takeaways on adaptability, communication, and creativity that can be applied to future projects.
#8. Transforming Words
This is one of the simple activities to improve adaptability skills. With this activity, your employees will understand the ways to become more adaptable.
Time: 5-10 minutes
Materials: None
Participants: 3-6 people per group
Instructions
- At first, the facilitator should tell some adaptability-related words one by one. For example, confidence, risk-taking, resilience, patience, persistence, etc.
- Next, instruct each teammate to choose a word from these. Then, they should come up with a few practical ideas to improve that particular area or skill. Now, each person can share their ideas with their teammates.
- Finally, each team should explain how they can use these ideas to be more adaptable.
Debrief
Discuss the ideas generated and how they can be implemented. Highlight the team’s commitment to improving adaptability and the potential impact on their work.
#9. Story Circle with a Twist
This activity encourages employees to think creatively, work together, and adapt to new information. It helps promote a culture of flexibility and innovation.
Time: 10-20 minutes
Materials: None
Participants: 3-8 people per group
Instructions
- Have the team members sit in a circle and start telling a story.
- Each member adds one sentence to the story, building on what the previous member said.
- Introduce a twist: at random intervals, change the story’s genre, setting, or main character.
- The teams must adapt the story to fit the new twist, continuing to build on each other’s ideas.
Debrief
Discuss how the teams adapted to the unexpected twists and changes. Explore how communication, creativity, and flexibility contributed to the story’s development.
#10. Web Passage
Web passage is one of the adaptability exercises that can be challenging as well as exciting. It encourages your employees to go outside of their comfort zone and solve complex problems.
Time: You decide
Materials: Nylon cord
Participants: Groups of any size
Instructions
- First, set up a spider web between two pillars or trees. You can do this by using the nylon cord.
- Then, instruct each team to pass through the spider web. They should not touch the web. Also, they should not travel over, under, or around the web. If somebody touches it, they should go back and start again.
- At last, see which team performed well.
Debrief
Figure out the strategies and communication techniques teams used to successfully navigate the spider web. Highlight the importance of teamwork and creative problem-solving in overcoming obstacles.
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Or Want Some Unique Team Building Activities?
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Final Words
In this changing world, businesses need employees who are more adaptable. So, it’s important to improve the adaptability skills of your teams. Hopefully, the above activities will help you achieve that. Remember, an adaptable employee can be a long-term asset for your business.
FAQ: Adaptability Activities
You might have these questions in mind.
How often should these activities be conducted?
The frequency of these activities depends on your team’s needs and goals. Conducting activities regularly, such as weekly or monthly, can help reinforce adaptability skills and promote continuous learning. This approach also helps to keep the team engaged and motivated.
How do adaptability activities benefit the workplace?
Adaptability activities benefit the workplace by fostering a culture of innovation, improving teamwork, and increasing employee engagement. They help employees develop essential skills to navigate change and uncertainty. This, in turn, enhances the organization’s overall performance and competitiveness.
Are these activities suitable for remote teams?
Yes, many of these activities can be adapted for remote teams with some creativity and planning. You can use video conferencing software, online collaboration platforms, or chat apps to facilitate communication and teamwork. Also, you can modify the instructions to fit a virtual format. With the right tools and facilitation, remote teams can benefit just as much from these exercises as in-person teams.
How can I measure the effectiveness of adaptability exercises?
The effectiveness of adaptability exercises can be measured through feedback surveys, observation of team behavior, and assessment of performance metrics. You can also track changes in employee engagement, retention, and productivity. By using a combination of these methods, you can get a comprehensive picture of the impact of these activities.
Can these activities be incorporated into existing training programs?
Yes, these activities can be incorporated into existing training programs to enhance their impact and relevance. By integrating adaptability games with other training initiatives, you can create a more comprehensive and engaging learning experience. This approach also helps to reinforce the importance of adaptability in the workplace.
