Category: team building

I I think nothing I have done has been met with more resistance than making people do improv activities! The amount of resistance that I am met with dramatically varies depending on the group dynamics. Here are a few things that I have observed about reluctance to do improv.  Introverts = More Resistance The more self-proclaimed introverts in a group, the more resistance there will be to doing improv activities. Introverts generally need more processing time, so activities like improv games that require them to think and respond quickly are not typically their favorite thing. They also tend to like smaller groups or one on one interactions over larger group activities.  Improv muscles are like the muscles in your body; the more you work them, the stronger they get.  Group trust is critical.  There is less trust within newer teams, and therefore members are often more resistant to these activities than with more established teams.   If you, as a facilitator, are experiencing pushback around doing improv activities,...

I My high school theater teacher would never let us do improv games or activities; he said they were reserved for advanced theater students. This was at the height of the popularity of the American version of "Whose Line is It Anyway," and I honestly felt a bit irritated that he was preventing me from getting to try my hand at improv. I continued to view improvisational skills as desirable and took any opportunity to practice and improve my skills. As my career has progressed, I see how they benefited me as an educator and museum professional and as a team member and entrepreneur. Early in my career, I got involved with the National Informal Science Education Network (NISEnet), and leaders in that organization professed the powers of improv. They gave me opportunities to not only practice these skills but learned to facilitate them in my museum. I have since used them as a crucial part of my training programs to break...