What makes a company or corporation great? What makes them truly stand out amongst their competitors? The answer is excellent, innovative, and effective communication. This kind of communication provides productivity, adaptability, stronger relationships, and successful negotiations — and it brings an end to the tired, useless jargon that derails, distracts, and limits every situation.
What organizations need is an innovative approach that creates open and effective communication, both internally and externally, during your organization’s day-to-day workings. And, believe it or not, that innovative approach is found in the principles of improvisation. It creates a unique, powerful approach that promotes a simpler, more positive, and effective way to communicate, collaborate, and cooperate as a team.
The foundation for effective leadership is active listening. When leaders listen to their employees and engage them using the skills learned from improv, growth happens. Improv promotes cooperation, and with greater collaboration comes greater productivity. The principles of improv fundamentally create productive interactions because they force people to truly listen to one another, and many companies are recognizing the power effect this has on teams.
Improv also builds stronger relationships. Successful relationships are built slowly, first through collaboration, then sharing, and building off of a shared vision. We’re more likely to succeed in our relationships when both parties can envision a common goal. Set aside your ego and go with it.
Improvisation creates successful negotiations, too. To succeed in negotiations, we need to drop our agendas long enough to listen and with respect for all involved. This is the kind of straight talk that we can cultivate that will make the most significant difference.
There are six principles of improvisation to keep in mind:
- Take who you are off the table
- Respect the other party
- Be in the moment
- Listen to the other party’s needs or wants
- Adapt to the situation
- Yes, and
When more people are willing to speak up with their ideas because they know they will be heard, employees take a more vested role in the jobs they have. Their performance goes up. People get excited to see their vision take shape. Excellent, creative, and effective communication invites productivity, adaptability, stronger relationships, successful negotiations, and it brings an end to the tired jargon that derails conversations. And it can all be found in improvisation.
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