Earning your team a standing ovation

• Getting out of your head and into the more creative parts of your brain—in an instant;
• Crossing chasms with colleagues without having to memorize their personality types;
• Gelling as a team minus the stress and strain of a ropes course;
• Riding the high of laughing with your co-workers while advancing your business goals. (Read more about how Laughter is the Best Corporate Medicine).

Here’s the third in a series of exercises you can start using with your team today to hone your improvisational skill sets. The first was called “Yes, but … “ or “Yes, and …”?. The second was “Tuned in or tuned out?”. This one is “Name, Logo, Tag Line, Ad Campaign!”. Here’s how it plays out:

What to do: Divide the team into subgroups of three to four people each. Task them with creating a branding campaign for the entire group, including name, logo, tag line, and some sort of ad campaign (like a television commercial). Give them a compressed time period (10 – 20 minutes total) to complete the task. In the debriefing, invite the entire team to mix and match ideas until you reach a “best of breed” solution.

The learning: The group that came up with the knock-em-dead tag line may not have been the most successful with the other tasks. This highlights the importance of checking your ego at the door and collaborating across the entire organization to produce the best overall result.

Tip: Do a second round using a real business issue that’s at stake.

The moral of the story? Improv is something everyone can do (in fact, it’s something we all already do, every day) and team exercises are quick, painless, valuable, and fun.

Which one will you try this week?

Originally published by BossaNova Consulting Group, Inc.

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Andrea Howe

As the founder of The Get Real Project, I am the steward of our vision and our service offerings, as well as a workshop leader and keynote speaker. Above all else, I am an entrepreneur on a mission: to kick conventional business wisdom to the curb and transform how people work together as a result. I am also the co-author, with Charles H. Green, of The Trusted Advisor Fieldbook (Wiley, 2012).

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