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Ways to Effectively Practice Flexibility at Work

One of the key reasons why employees become less engaged and productive at work is the lack of flexibility they require due to the tight deadlines they must meet, the amount of work they must do, and the fact that they are often unable to adjust accordingly. No matter how good or enthusiastic they are in their jobs, doing the same thing over and over again while adhering to the same restrictions without the flexibility to do work their way will become a tedious and daunting chore for them. Hence, leaders must practice flexibility at work so that their employees remain engaged, interested, and retained in the work. Keeping this as the point of discussion, organizational psychologist, Adam Grant discusses a few reasons and tips to practice flexibility at work effectively.

The flexibility to complete work is one of the many things that workers practiced in the lockdown during their ‘ work from home’ phase that they would undoubtedly want to continue in their offline mode, according to Adam. He claims that flexibility is crucial not just in terms of where they work, but also in terms of what they do, who they cooperate with, and when and how much time they work. Moving further with the topic, he says that one of the numerous ways leaders may practice flexibility at work is to enable people to focus on their passion for a short portion of their work time. He goes on to say that there are two forms of liberty: negative and positive liberty. Negative liberty, he argues, relates to the freedom from external restraints and interference, whereas positive liberty refers to the ability to explore possibilities and determine your own destiny. Bounded liberty, he claims, is how to be flexible at work while being constrained. He then goes over a few guidelines to practice flexibility at work, the first of which is that when you exercise your freedom to join a project, you must make a commitment that must be kept. Second, rather than expecting flexibility to be granted to them, people must work for it. Finally, as long as you keep the firm out of difficulty, you must be willing to take chances. Employees who were given extra hours outside of their regular work hours were more productive, according to the episode, since they had the freedom to work according to their extra time. It is recommended that from the start of any project, you have a sponsor who also serves as a mentor for you, assisting you in becoming capable of performing at your best at the end. He closes the episode by claiming that people are more content, devoted, and engaged at work when they are given the freedom to be flexible.

Employees are more likely to perform at their best when they are given the freedom to express their creativity and enthusiasm in whichever way makes them feel most productive. Hence, it is undeniably imperative to understand why to practice flexibility at work. The above synopsis of the podcast episode on the Worklife with Adam Grant podcast highlights the most significant reasons and ideas to help you better comprehend the topic.

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