How well does your team relate?
I recently had the delightful privilege of co-delivering “Right Here, Right Now” a ground-breaking Applied Improvisation training day for psychotherapists. This was a partnership programme, between Improv Initiative and Cascade Therapy.
If I may blow our trumpet just briefly, this is what one participant said – “I absolutely loved the day. Thanks so much. Your joint delivery created the most enjoyable CPD I’ve ever taken part in. It was also really thought provoking”.
“So what’s that got to do with me”? I hear you ask. “I’m no psychotherapist”.
Here’s what. The day was dedicated to using the skills of Applied Improv to enhance the quality of the working relationship between client and therapist. Research* shows that the type of training a therapist has had, and the theoretical models they use, bear little influence on the outcome for the client. What matters, the factor that makes all the difference, is the quality of the connection between the two of them.
“I’m still waiting to hear what’s that got to do with me,” you say.
Well, research in the corporate world shows that the same principle applies to management and leadership.** Whatever your sector, whatever your role, whatever kind of work your team undertakes, a team member’s performance is directly linked to their relationship with the team leader. The better the quality of the connection between the leader and each individual team member, the higher the levels of performance, engagement, and satisfaction.
So for higher-functioning, better-performing, more productive, engaged and satisfied teams, the answer could well be an Applied Improvisation intervention.
Contact me to find out more.
* Lynch, Margaret McCoy (2012).
** Ilies, Nahrgang & Morgeson, (2007).