By Izzy Gesell, MS Ed, CSP

The success of a team depends on many things, not the least of which is the flow of energy in and among the team members. At any particular moment, team members are likely to be experiencing one of two flow states. They are either being energized or they are being drained of their energy. Significantly, the state these team members are in determines the level of their connection with each other, with the other team members, and with the organization as a whole.
The energy level of the team members defines the emotional state of the team in the same way lighting sets the tone in a theater production. There, the changing lights indicate a shift in mood. Within a theater production, the illumination fills in the holes and occupies the spaces between characters, events and sets. Within personal interactions, the energy illuminates the dynamics of the group. It helps fill in the psychic space between the people who make up the group.

Improvisation theater games are wonderful resources to help team members understand this energy flow and how it affects their relationships because the way we play games has a strong relationship to the way we interact with others and ourselves.

The power of spontaneity

Improv theater games offer unique insights into real-time emotional and cognitive states of both the participants and the observers because people learn most effectively through experience and involvement. Improvisational theater operates by responding to an experience in the moment it happens. This moment of spontaneity is the wellspring for self-understanding, laughter, creative expression and significant behavior change.

The skills that make improvisational theater participants successful have direct relevance to the skills that make all teams successful. These include listening, agreement, acceptance of what one is given, partnering, helping others succeed, letting go of the need to know the outcome in advance, letting go of the drive for personal recognition, trust, spontaneity, believing in oneself, dealing with fear while going ahead anyway, knowing it doesn’t all have to done it “all by yourself.”

The games offer team members new activities, new ways of inviting participation, new ways of learning and new ways of understanding their relationships and themselves. The improv experience helps participants understand how important skill areas are strengthened. For example, trust is enhanced when others believe you have their interests at heart; creative skills are strengthened both by not having a pre-determined agenda and being able to act on other people’s visions; communication skills are sharpened by listening without interrupting, acknowledging what others say and by speaking from a place of emotional truth.

Creating reality through action

In improv, players create reality through individual action and honest emotion while at the same time they develop a shared vision with other players. Improv players gain confidence to allow their own spontaneity to flow without self-censorship, poise to allow the spontaneity of others to flow without criticism, and re-affirm their belief in their ability to solve problems. Improv works because it puts people into the right frame of mind in order to achieve breakthroughs in thought. Because improv games are tools, their real value lies in what they create for people –the ability to balance spontaneity and control.
Another convincing reason to use improv games stems from the effect they have on the people watching the players. Improv is a wonderful teaching tool because audience and participant are equally emotionally involved during each exercise. Observers of improv games experience a level of intensity and involvement similar to the participants. You can link to everyone in the room without having to have everyone up there with you! The energy in the room becomes electric and no one has to volunteer foe anything if they don’t want to!

In an experiential improv session, the learning comes through the playing, debriefing, discussion and review sections. In practice, behavior change stems from the self-awareness participants experience about their own conduct and their newly recognized ability to change the way they “always did it” while recognizing their own responsibility for the way things turn out.
The entire program is highly interactive. Theories, ideas, relevancy will come from playing the games and personal experience. I introduce a game, call for volunteers, play the game, and stop the action to make relevant points, debrief with the group.
Improv is valuable because people don’t often take the time to analyze their interactions and processes. I’ve found that the way a person behaves during an improv game is an insight into how they will behave in other stressful situations. Their thinking is also indicative of what they believe in those situations. So by asking certain basic questions we illuminate what’s going on for the players and enable them to intuitively understand how they’re own thinking affects their outcomes. Through improv we’re able to see how a specific behavior or thought pattern leads to a result. It’s like looking into the workings of the mind!
During the games, players will inevitably show some emotion. Common examples include saying, “oh, no,” or stepping back from the action, or apologizing for something they said. This emotion is the signal to stop the action and ask a basic question such as “why did you do that?” or “what were you thinking when you did that.” I call these stoppages “instructional moments.”

The opportunity inherent within the “instructional moment” always lies in the follow-up investigation into WHY the game does or doesn’t work and what QUALITIES are present or absent in the players that determined the outcome. I always try to keep a participant playing a game until they have a successful experience. I’ve found it most effective to let players continue a game until they’ve had a “successful” experience. This allows them (and the audience) to truly experience transformational change.

Debriefing

The following questions can be used to debrief almost any improv game:

• “Did the game work as planned?”
• “If yes, what behaviors or actions made it so?” “If not, what kept it from working?”
• “How were you feeling when it worked and when it didn’t work.”
• “What were the differences between the successful tries and the unsuccessful ones?”
• “What states did you go through to achieve the experience?”
• “How did what you were thinking (your BELIEF) affect the result
(the OUTCOME)?”
• “Where is the opportunity to change in this game?”
These discussions can then be broadened to see if or how the game behaviors are also present during team interactions.