Veteran UCB performer and instructor Ari Voukydis recently shared his insights on improv in the workplace with Funding Gates, a blog that features management tips. This excerpt summarizes the nuts and bolts of improv as a management training tool.

Before making improvisation a part of your management training, it is important to know what it's really all about:

1) It's Not About Comedy:  As Ari Voukydis puts right on the table, "Improv is not about comedy. It's about clarity, communication and a willingness to change."

2) "Yes" And...:  As Ari points out, we "are naturally risk adverse" as people, which can make it easy for us to say no to things. But as Frank Blocker explains, improv is about "saying yes to everything. You have to give your partner something to work with. You must advance the dialogue." Amy Roeder expounds, saying "What that boils down to is that it is the improvisor's job to hear the offer their partner is making, acknowledge it and then build off that idea by contributing their own ideas." That's why "Yes, And... is a staple in improvisation. As Amy points out, "it has become terribly easy to say no, which is why improvisational training tends to be so revolutionary for businesses. In the work I do with businesses, we spend a lot of time working on the idea of acceptance, of saying 'yes' to an idea to see just how efficiently and collaboratively people can work together."

3) Listen, listen, listen: Roeder believes the idea behind yes, and... is 'active and engaged listening'. She says, 'It is impossible to build on your partner's idea if you didn't fully hear that idea.' As Frank states, 'Through listening, you can see where the storyline should and/or could advance. Close your mouth and you'll have a few seconds of good thinking time, inspired by what you're hearing.' Ari adds, "Listening is manifesting a willingness to change". As he reminds, this is one of the most "important skills in any creative endeavor." In improv, it teaches us (in Voukydis' words), to "disengage that normal part of your brain that tries to avoid failure and capture that as nature's teaching tool."

4) Always Pick a Leader: In improv, Blocker says, "Someone should always be the leader. Dueling leaders becomes yelling. And one leader can keep you on point. The 'lead' can switch, but only when you've created a good working dialogue or some sort of framework."

5) Make Your Partner Look Like a Genius: Ari says the best way to excel at improv 'is to make your partner look like a genius. Almost nobody operates that way instinctually. If you listen, are unselfish and set each other up, you will succeed. And if you don't, you won't.'

The full article is available here.