Sometimes we need to step away from our day-to-day tasks to fully appreciate how much change has been encountered in community pharmacy. Many will argue that the profession is not changing quickly enough, although history suggests that pharmacists can adapt to meet new challenges and demands. The pace of technological change will ensure that the most successful are those who have adopted the key principles of adaptability.

Many leaders see adaptability and flexibility as one and the same thing, but there is more to think about here. Sure, a flexible approach is critical in today's fast moving world. However, it is the flexibility to choose the right solution that can make the real difference.

Let's take the often emotive subject of team profiling as an example. A new surgery may have opened up nearby, changing the whole profile of the business. Their extended hours and condition-led clinics mean that the current team profile no longer aligns to the needs of the business.

At first glance, the solution may require more flexibility around lunch hours and days off, but closer analysis may uncover an opportunity to completely re-profile the team. For example, if the pharmacy has extended its hours to align to the surgery, there may be tasks that can be completed during quieter periods that would significantly improve productivity, such as dispensing collected prescriptions ready for pick up the next day.

Another example may be to think through solutions to manage the mountain of paperwork encountered in every pharmacy. The pharmacy may only need a couple of hours of dedicated time if a person with the right level of expertise were available. The challenge is finding someone suitable for just that short time period.

Alternatively, there could be other local pharmacies with exactly the same challenge, so a way forward could be to employ one person to support all the pharmacies, providing enough hours to make the role attractive enough to secure the right calibre of candidate.

There are a number of tools to help think through possible solutions to a challenge. One is the 5QF framework, which is helpful as it makes you reflect upon what is currently working to ensure that existing best practice is duly considered before other options are considered. The following section takes you through this.