Change is something that we deal with on an almost daily basis. When change comes, it affects us in different ways – sometimes negatively, sometimes positively. No matter how often change comes, however, there is one thing that is always in our control…how we deal with it.

When change occurs we can become discouraged and look outside of ourselves for something to place the blame on. Or, we have the option to recognize that change is a part of life, accept it, and learn how to leverage it. I have learned a number of things from my professional life about change that have helped me gain a new perspective regarding change.

As a product manager at a small company, one of the things that constantly changes is the availability of development resources to develop new products. When I first started working as a product manager, finding out that there was either less time or fewer resources than we had originally anticipated would throw a pretty big wrench in my plans and it was a painful process to rescope and replan the project. Usually a scope change would involve cutting a few random pieces here and there until the project fit into the bounds that were set. Since then, I have learned a few things that have helped me handle change when it comes. Obviously, there are countless other tactics that can be applied when facing change, but here are 3 that I have found to be most helpful:

1. Focus: One of the things I appreciate the most about changing a project’s scope is a renewed focus on what is most important. Revisiting the original project plan and evaluating each piece of that plan often reveals that things originally thought important are really not. This is one of the benefits of change, it helps us reprioritize and focus on the things that are of most value.
2. Team Work: Another lesson that I have learned about change is that involving other people and their ideas can be essential to making the best out of the current situation. Teamwork brings out better ideas and can lead to the best decisions.
3. Flexibility: Flexibility may be one of the most important aspects of accepting change. A common misconception when someone says they are flexible is that they just don’t care or aren’t really committed. Flexibility is really more about accepting things as they are and being willing and open to consider different courses of action.

Keeping a positive attitude and being willing to do the work that needs to be done to compensate for change can make all the difference when that change comes. And it will, because the only constant in life…is change.