Making reasonable adjustments – a team-based perspective

Kit Sturgess, an internal medicine specialist and the director of Vet Freedom Ltd, discusses why team buy-in is essential to the success of reasonable adjustments - and how the changes can benefit everyone in the workplace. 

Making reasonable adjustments can seem like a purely management or HR task that involves talking to the individual concerned, understanding their needs and formulating a plan. However, it is important to consider the team dynamic as well. Introducing reasonable adjustments can sometimes feel like an imposition, potentially creating feelings of injustice, unfairness or favouritism that can be corrosive to the team dynamic.   

The value of inclusive conversation

From a management perspective, once the initial conversation has taken place, involving the team in discussing what reasonable adjustments might look like is a positive step.

The more a team understands someone's needs, the more likely they are to be able to contribute to innovative and creative solutions. 

Clearly, this involves sharing some personal details of the individual for whom the adjustments are being made, and it is essential that they are is comfortable with that. In reality, the team probably already knows quite a lot, and the more they understand the person's needs, the more likely they are to be able to contribute to innovative and creative solutions that help the individual feel part of the team. This approach also helps the team to better understand the needs and challenges for the individual as they consider solutions.

Assuming a skills-based employment approach, the individual requiring adjustments brings valuable skills that benefit the team. It is also important for the team to see they have an overall set of tasks or requirements to deliver and that an optimal approach can be both flexible and changeable. The most productive solution is likely to involve maximising the inherent skills within the team while identifying areas where the team would benefit from further learning.

Solutions co-created by the team are more likely to be
workable and sustainable. 

The team as a whole is likely to have a clear understanding of the workflows, nuances, demands, and stressors involved. Therefore, solutions co-created by the team - with input from management -  including the individual requiring adjustments, are more likely to be workable and sustainable, with everyone feeling heard and their input valued.

With this approach, the aim is for the team to see their output as a whole - achieving the tasks that are required in the most efficient and effective way.

Tackling the requirements of reasonable adjustments can help the team reflect on how they do things and look more generally at what adjustments they can make so that everyone's role is made easier. These discussions can also serve to bring to light other challenges that the team may have. Team members who may not require reasonable adjustments can benefit from subtle changes to ways of working, as well as making them feel valued and heard.

The power of small adjustments for all

Reasonable adjustments do not necessarily have to be big or expensive - sometimes small adjustments can have a massive impact. The wider the thinking can be, the more likely it is that innovative and creative solutions that work for the entire team can be found.

This isn’t just about the physical environment, but supportive technologies
such as the use of AI.

This isn’t just about the physical environment, but supportive technologies such as the use of AI and the whole team way of working. So, for example, if an individual requires a shorter working day, and a major team task is to undertake procedures that often spill past the end of the standard working day, scheduling or workload management changes can be made to ensure those procedures are completed when the full team is present. The team can then undertake individual tasks (which are easier to manage either alone or with fewer people) later on in the day.

This also provides an added benefit to other members of staff as it is more likely that they, too, will be able to leave on time without feeling like they’re abandoning their team in the middle of a demanding multi-person procedure.

I think all of us know that a happy, cohesive, supportive team is what we want for ourselves and others. Such teams not only deliver great benefits to the individuals within them but the practice as a whole, resulting in better animal welfare and client care.

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