Business Improvisation
| Introduction To Business Improv. |
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Introduction The business environment into which most of us face today has become much more dynamic in these uncertain times. New technologies, emerging markets, and increasing competition have accelerated the rate of change in business practices. Although tried and true planning techniques of market research, forecasting, and decision analysis are still useful, today’s most successful leaders and business people also rely on a powerful new set of tools for creating successful change: through combining effective state of the art soft skills training enhancement and incorporating that with what we call business improvisation. This powerful mix develops a skill set that is essential for today's leaders and future leaders. It teaches them how to create an environment where people are ready for the disclosure of an unknown event or outcome. With practice the course exercises are integrated into the person’s life in a way that creates an intuitive, coordinated, and spontaneous response to any dynamic environment.  During these lab sessions participants will be guided through a series of exercises designed to help cultivate skills necessary for successful: teamwork, dropping inhibitions, commitment to ideas and teammates, concentration and listening, thinking creatively on their feet, and adaptive problemsolving. Some of these exercises are adapted from improv games; others have been designed specifically to help participants to:
These experiential workshops will be supplemented with classroom discussions exploring the use of soft skills training in professional settings. Topics include:
In the area of ethical business leader requirements, Improvisation as a learning experience connects with five key points:
Improvisation is defined as “an intuitive, coordinated, and spontaneous response in a dynamic environment.” As such it is both a set of skills to be practiced and phenomena to be studied. During these sessions students will be guided through a series of exercises designed to help cultivate skills necessary for successful improvisation: teamwork, commitment to ideas and teammates, concentration and listening, thinking creatively on their feet, business improvisational leadership, and adaptive problem-solving. Some of these exercises are adapted from improv games; others have been designed specifically for this course. The skills that students learn in lab sessions will help them to:
• Increase confidence and reduce fear of public speaking  • Promote creativity and facilitate effective brainstorming • Be open to taking risks and adapting to change • Take themselves less seriously and use humor as a tool in the workplace • Improve concentration and listening skills • Think on their feet and recognize opportunities as they arise
These experiential workshops will be supplemented with classroom discussions exploring the use of improvisation in professional settings. Topics include: • Rapid decision making • Dynamic negotiation • Crisis management • Teamwork • Innovation • Creativity • Fostering an improvisational culture • Emergent strategy • Diversity In the area of ethical business leader requirements, Improvisation as a learning experience connects with five key points: 1. Build the capacity for leadership to manage diversity 2. Increase effective communications 3. Manage difficult conversations for a win-win situation 4. Create a learning community that upholds conditions of trust 5. Take risks by going outside the comfort zone, and being open to new ideas The “Yes … And” technique is the framework that creates acceptance and understanding without the initial judgment, The final goal is to develop a common understanding and increase effective communication in today’s global, business environment. Through this framework, students are encouraged to seek out diversity, and understand different ideas and world views. The course is custom designed to create a safe environment where students can specifically: • build trust • speak freely and say what’s on their minds • suspend judgment, and • take the risk to be honest So, the intent of Improvisational Leadership is to create conditions that enable authentic thoughts, facilitate genuine conversations, and achieve honest discussions that create the conditions for factual learning. This experiential learning in laboratory sessions is led by Sarah Gee, a professional improvisation coach from Chicago, USA. Sarah has worked with such groups as The Second City, Improv Business Group, and Improv Olympic. Sarah also teaches this course to business groups at Duke University Fuqua School of Business, and UCLA Anderson School of Management. These sessions are designed to run for 2 days, or once a week for two weeks. BUSINESS IMPROV OBJECTIVES: • Create strong and diverse teams • Build trust and support • Suspend judgment • Use active listening skills • Successfully provide feedback • Adapt to any situation • Utilize quick problem solving techniques • Make sense of ambiguous data • Shed inhibitions • Enhance concentration • Improve communication • Shift between leading, following and delegating • Show sensitivity towards the role of status • Oh, and by the way, have fun—a proven, and effective learning tool!
Learning Outcomes: In these sessions participants will focus on exploring the personal skills of improvisational leadership and capabilities as a leader in a dynamically changing environment. Specifically they will learn how to: • Create a safe environment that fosters open communication and creativity • Develop personal leadership through observation, focus, and concentration • Leverage the diverse talent within teams • Integrate ideas quickly while balancing reactions thoughtfully • Enable others to deal effectively with ambiguity and respond to the unknown • Shape interactions with consideration to style, interest, culture and focus of others • Proactively detect and respond to unpredictable, uncontrollable changes in the business environment
Enhance Observation, Communication & Active Listening skills as well as :
Reading People Reading Self Communication Conflict Resolution |