Use the principles of improv comedy!
Team dynamics can be understood as how team member’s distinct roles and behaviors impact other team members and the team as a whole. Great leaders pay attention to their team’s dynamics and take actions to strengthen them.
Several years ago I made an experiment. For my team’s annual face-to-face meeting I hired an improv artist to be our guest speaker. I know it sounds strange, but hear me out.
Improv is a form of live theatre or standup comedy in which the script is made up in the moment. Often improvisers will start the scene by taking a suggestion from the audience, or one of them will start with an opening line and the others will continue building on the story.
The speaker was Galen Emanuele who, in addition to performing and teaching improv for many years, is now a speaker and corporate trainer. He teaches business teams how to apply the principles of improv to transform the way teams communicate and interact.
To everybody’s surprise, the session was not only a lot of fun, but it also had a great impact on my team. After the session, the dynamics within the team improved substantially because as a team we agreed to adopt what we had learned.
Galen taught us the three principles of improv and how to apply them to have a positive impact on the people we interact with. Here is what he shared with us:
1. Say YES, AND – Accept Ideas and build on them
To our surprise, improv is not about being funny, it’s about accepting what the other person is offering. The improv artist has to say YES to what is being offered AND add to it. So regardless of how outrageous the idea is, for improve to work the artist has to accept it.
Can you imagine how team dynamics would change if every time somebody in the team proposes an idea the rest of the team members start thinking on how to make it work, as opposed to finding reasons why it would not work?
2. Make the other person look good
Let’s be honest here. When a colleague comes up with an idea, isn’t your most common reaction to analyze its shortcomings? Is not that you purposely want to shoot it down, but it seems that criticizing the idea and demonstrating why it would not work proves how smart we are. That makes us look very good! The invitation of this method is to concentrate on making the other person feel good. Instead of finding the faults, propose ways on how to make it work. Concentrate on what would it take for this person’s idea to become a reality.
3. Be Positive
Use positive language. Be supportive. Fight the tendency to opening with “no”.
If your natural tendency is always to answer “no” or to make negative comments, read this article, where I describe two questions that will help you stop making negative comments.
I imagine what is going through your head right now. It’s probably the same reaction that we had: does this mean that from now on we are going to say yes all the time and that we will not be able to disagree or express our opinion? The answer is no, that is not the objective. The intention is not to make us lie when we don’t agree with something. That will be dangerous, especially when we are going to be responsible for the consequences of implementing a new idea.
What it means is that by applying the 3 principles of improve, we will give every idea a chance. Using these principles, we become aware of the impact that we have on other people. Let’s make the other person feel that we heard them and we gave the idea a fair chance. Even if after analysis we conclude that the idea should not go forward, the other person will feel appreciated and will be open to bringing new ideas in the future.
I invite you use these three principles in your professional and personal life. Next time somebody comes to you with an idea, say YES AND.
Life is More Interesting When You Say “Yes”- Sir Richard Branson
Practice enough so your natural reaction is to accept the idea and think about how to make it work. You will see the difference immediately!
I invite you to work with me. I will work with you to develop simple habits that will make you a better leader and to develop a high-performing team.
With my 33 years of experience as a leader in global corporations and coaching knowledge, l can help you discover your strengths, develop an influential leadership style and define and achieve ambitious goals with your team.
The support that I offer can be as simple as a one-time video call to discuss a specific situation, or a more prolonged relationship where I am your trusted counselor.
