Adaptive Performance: How can managers empower their teams to adapt to unfamiliar scenarios? 

In the fourth and final instalment from our series on the four types of performance, we explore adaptive performance.

When was the last time you experienced a situation at work that you weren’t prepared for? How did you cope? 

Today’s retail world is always changing. As a result, teams are constantly faced with unfamiliar scenarios, forcing them to think on their feet and act on instinct. But in an environment that is dominated by processes and procedures, how equipped are they to navigate this? 

A prominent finding from our recent global study, ‘The Secret DNA of High-Performing Teams,’ was that great managers encourage teams to alternate between different ‘types’ of performance to create long-term, sustainable results: they are ‘peak’, ‘sustainable’, ‘tactical’ and ‘adaptive’ performance. In this blog series, we’re exploring each performance type in turn, considering the benefits and drawbacks of each to understand why it’s essential to strike a careful balance between the four.  

Click on the links below to read the previous blogs in the series:  

Part 1. Peak Performance: How to nurture your team’s energy levels to create high-performance  

Part 2. Sustainable Performance: How to keep your teams energised during everyday moments  

Part 3. Tactical Performance: Is tactical performance stifling creativity? 

Adaptive Performance 

Unlike ‘tactical’ performance, which is about sticking closely to the rules, ‘adaptive’ performance involves diverging from them. For many, a prominent example of this was during the Covid-19 pandemic: managers had to empower their teams to make quick decisions with no manual to follow, creating new solutions to solve problems in real-time. 

However, on an average day, managers can become too comfortable with the pre-set flow of things, meaning that teams sometimes don’t feel comfortable adapting when they need to. 

In 2007, a professor named Ethan S. Bernstein studied performance in a company where teams were encouraged to follow processes to the letter. Interestingly, when manager supervision was removed, teams found their own ways of working, improving their performance by 10-15%. Being watched, they felt pressured to stick to ‘proven’ methods and couldn’t adapt to improve their work.  

Therefore, to create long term high-performance, great managers offer guidance to their teams, whilst giving them the space to use their initiative and think independently. 

Our Partners’ Stories 

When managers give their teams autonomy to try new things, it gives them the confidence to learn and adapt. A clothing retail manager brought this to life, saying, ‘Rules are there as a guide. They’re not there to be followed in a strict, regimented way. From my experience, teams thrive when they have the freedom to make their own decisions.’ 

Another echoed this sentiment, saying: ‘It’s like a roller coaster in here sometimes, and there’s times when they genuinely don’t know what to do. So, I try to encourage my team to do things for themselves then ask questions later. It helps them grow.’ 

However, whilst autonomy is important, clear structure and expectations are still needed to keep teams in line; without it, they can fall off track. A clothing retail manager brought this to life, saying, ‘When my back was turned for five minutes, [my team members] were distracted, talking about what they’re getting for their break. Because of this, they forgot to put an item in the customer’s bag but still scanned it through. The customer came back in very annoyed and wanted to return all their items.’ 

An airline manager also commented, ‘I encourage my teams to tackle the call themselves so they can learn. But the other day, I picked up a call where my agent hadn’t followed the process properly. He committed to follow up on a booking for a customer and forgot to do it, meaning the customer hadn’t been ticketed and lost the availability on the flight.’ 

Managing Adaptive Performance 

To ensure teams are equipped to navigate unforeseen circumstances, managers need to give their teams the autonomy they need to learn and grow, whilst still providing guidance and setting clear expectations. 

Therefore, adaptive performance is crucial for dealing with unexpected situations and fostering innovation, but structure is still needed to create efficiency and accountability. Great managers understand this balance and create an environment where their teams can thrive, adapt, and deliver long-term, sustainable results. 

If you would like to learn more about how to create long-term, scalable high-performance results, contact us at info@kultralab.com. To download your full copy of our recent global study ‘The Secret DNA of High-Performing Teams,’ click here.