Is improv the key to a high performing team?
This week my team took the bold leap out of the office, out of our comfort zones and into one of Neil Curran’s improv workshops.
When I say “improv”, what do you think?
We thought; acting, singing, dancing… stress, worry, angst.
We thought; what did we agree to!?
We were wrong!
With the cool, calm and collected Neil to guide us we had the best team bonding experience we’ve had in a long time. Seriously, we are now the A-team. Bring on the awkward stakeholders and clients, we’re ready!
In our afternoon session we learned some of the basic principals of improvisation, and most importantly, how to use them to make us better communicators and better colleagues to each other.
These are some of the lessons we took from it.
1. Trust
When you’ve stood with your colleague in front of a group and tried to sell an algorithm-solving long-armed T-Rex, or a melon-disco flavour Pop Tart, or a mascara that shoots lasers (pew pew!), then you have stood on the edge my friend. You have put yourselves out there, you have connected with your partner and you both have survived (gloriously). After this, you know your team has your back.
Right now you’re probably thinking, “she’s lost it”. I don’t blame you, but bear with me.
One very important take-away that my team has from our session is trust. When taking part in our improvisation exercises we needed to trust that our “on-stage” partners would run with whatever mad idea flew out of our mouths. They would catch us when we stumbled. Together we had such an air of confidence that our audience got completely on board with what we said.
Melon-disco flavour you say? What do you mean you haven’t heard of it, it’s amazing!
Ok, so we can sell mad Pop Tarts, but what has that got to do with day-to-day work? If we ever were unsure before, we now know that in our next stakeholder or client meeting, our teammate has our back.
Now, we’re not about to launch a full us-against-the-world campaign, but we have the assurance that our teammate will support us if any unnerving or curve-ball situations arise.
Improv’s important adage is: always take care of your partner
2. Active Listening
Did you know that listening is difficult?
In improv it is important to listen carefully to the words that your partner is using. If your mind is wandering off to think about your next meal, or gets distracted by his/her watch (oh how lovely), then you are likely to miss out on the most interesting thing of their dialogue.
Then what? Then you could be missing out on a great way to steer the scene in the next direction.
Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, is a former improvisation comedian. In an interview with the New York Times he referred to how this improv principal applies in the workplace “One of the things that you’re always trying to make sure you really pay attention to in improv is being in the moment and listening. When I was first learning the trade, one of the things that folks at Second City used to always say was “Be in this moment.” That’s one of the things I tell my new managers.”
So back to the office: Improv teaches us that we need to absorb the words that are being said to us, don’t just be present in the room waiting for your chance for “air time”. In your next meeting or conversation with your colleagues / stakeholders / clients, actively try to listen to the words they’re using. What they mention might even bring you down a new route to solution.
3. “Yes and…”
When you begin to research improvisation techniques, you’ll see that this is the most common principal that is mentioned.
“Yes and” are just two words, but they do seem to be very powerful.
If I begin by saying “I’m a pirate on a desert island”
Here’s two potential responses from my partner:
“Yes, and I have the treasure map (and the rum!)”
“No, you’re an accountant”
The “no” response brought that scene to a jerking halt, whereas the yes allowed for more to be added onto the story.
When we did this exercise our team imagined scenes of exploring the world and meeting all sorts of people and creatures.
In business, we plan to adopt this approach to our brainstorming sessions. Our company is relatively established, and so there are some processes which have been in place for decades, or others which aren’t as old but are ingrained in the minds of many staff. In our brainstorming sessions we can be restricted by hearing “no” to ideas. So what if we allow the ideas to flow, raise the limit to beyond blue skies and encourage everyone to respond “yes, and” to every idea?
This thought did overwhelm some of my colleagues during our exercise. What if those ideas are not in line with our vision, if they’re not fit for purpose, if they will to break the budget?
We are not committing to develop all of these “Yes, and” ideas. But instead we are allowing the creativity to flow without restriction. Out of the wild and whacky ideas we will be able to continue the conversations and hopefully bring shape to a solution that is possible to produce.
4. Don’t sweat it
In our various exercises during our improv workshop we were set up to fail. This is ok, in fact this is good. From this Neil was able to make us see that no one cares about your mistake as much as you do. If you drop the ball, you recover and move on. Everyone is too busy being concerned about not dropping the ball themselves. No, seriously.
I am a ‘recovering perfectionist’. I like to get things right, I don’t like the idea of failing. My version of an MVP is usually two steps further developed than what an MVP really should be. I’m working on it though.
When making mistakes I have self-criticised, and that can affect my ability to try again. So this part of the session was probably one that I enjoyed most. As it turns out — no one cares about my mistakes as much as I did. I need to learn dial that back.
In this Forbes article about improv training for business, Nithya Venkateswaran, digital product manager for WeightWatchers, said “When you do improv and come back to the corporate world, you realise how many small things you thought were important don’t matter.”
They don’t matter. Let’s not forget the basic rule of improv — the team has your back. “Always take care of your partner”
So, maybe impov isn’t just for actors and comedians after all?
My title read “Is improv the key to a high performing team?” It’s not the only ingredient, but I’m certain that as my team begin to embed these practices into our daily culture it can only lead to greatness.
Have you ever taken part in an improv class? Are there particular exercises or other outcomes that you liked from it? I’ve caught the bug now so I’d certainly love to hear from you. Let me know!
