The idea of improv exercises in workplace training can conjure all sorts of negative associations: awkward icebreakers, forced ‘acting’ exercises, and stilted role play. But it doesn’t have to be that way. With two decades of facilitation in contexts from one-to-one executive coaching to full conference support, we at AndAlso pride ourselves on creating purposeful and accessible interventions in spaces safe for productive challenge.
In this article, we’ll look at what makes improv exercises useful for business teams, share example exercises that support business skills including active listening, collaboration, confidence, and creativity, and explain why tailored briefing, facilitation, and reflection are essential to turning the fun of improv into meaningful learning.
Why use improv exercises with business teams?
Improv exercises are not an end in themselves, but a methodology to teach applicable skills, while bringing groups together and providing a vocabulary to discuss cooperation and creativity. Not just an abstract discussion, they are a context for experimentation and growth. By allowing a measured exposure to risk, they create an experiential context in which participants can practise, notice, and reflect on their own behaviours and habits.
What makes a good workplace improv exercise?
Improv exercises are much more than simple icebreakers (although they often do that job as well). A well-chosen exercise will have a specific, relevant aim which builds on what has come before. This aim may be explicitly mentioned to the group, or it may be discovered as the exercise progresses. The exercise must then have a clear structure and mechanics, allowing participants to feel secure, aware of what is being asked of them and how to achieve it. The combination of clear aim and structure provides a degree of challenge that promotes growth but does not overwhelm.
A note on the exercises below
In the sections below, we have given example exercises for each category, along with a summary of how they work. However, this is a little like describing meditation as ‘sitting down and concentrating on your breath’—true, but not the whole story. For a better understanding of what these exercises feel like to do, why not join one of our monthly online applied improv sessions, or book a one-to-one improv coaching session with one of our trainers?
Improv exercises for active listening
Any role involving cooperation, whether internal or customer-facing, will involve listening, and improv exercises are excellent for modelling and improving it.
Often, active listening is taught as a list, with advice including maintaining eye contact and open body language, as well as mirroring using the speaker’s words. Improv exercises go beyond this by enabling reflection on the psychological process of listening, including noticing nuance and context, and staying present. This encourages participants to listen to all of what is being said before leaping to a response. In our workplace methodology, we call this listening to understand.
Improv exercises for listening include:
- Life in a minute: Participants work in pairs and tell true stories from their life. The listener then repeats the story back, retaining as much detail as possible. Variations include listening for different elements in the story, telling in the first person, or changing the ending to give a creative twist.
- Anecdotes: In groups of three or four, participants tell stories one line at a time, building on each other’s contributions to create something truly shared.
Improv exercises for collaboration and team trust
Possibly the most famous principle in improvisation is ‘Yes, and’, sometimes also called ‘accept and build’. But it means more than just simple agreement. ‘Yes, and’ encourages participants to engage with a group process with curiosity, bringing their own expertise to the task and creating a sense of shared responsibility for the outcome.
Practising ‘Yes, and’ in a low-stakes environment builds trust and collaboration, strengthening both the team and the individual skills needed to be a team player. We call this building together.
Improv exercises for collaboration and team trust include:
- You, me, us: A simple circle game where an impulse is passed round the circle using different rules. You can switch direction, call it to yourself or throw it to another person. The aim of this exercise is to create shared momentum, rather than to get it right.
- Three in a circle: Participants build ‘pictures’ of three elements which fit together, accepting and finishing each other’s ideas, while reflecting on balance and turn-taking.
Improv exercises for confidence and presence
Not everyone wants to be a performer, but anyone who works in a team needs to be able to both listen and communicate clearly, as the circumstances require. For some people, this means learning to speak up; for others, it means learning to give attention without judgement. An even more challenging skill is switching quickly between those modes. For everyone, it involves learning to balance the attention of the group: what we call taking and giving space.
Improv exercises treat confidence not as an individual trait, but as a shared responsibility, inviting the group to create an atmosphere where any individual feels empowered to share their knowledge, expertise and suggestions.
Improv exercises for confidence and presence include:
- 8 things: Participants are given a category (colours, foods, reasons to be late) and asked to name eight things in that category in front of the group. Simple though it may sound, the challenge is in not panicking, and pushing yourself towards harder and harder categories.
- Word at a time: In pairs or small groups, participants tell stories, one word at a time until the story stalls, fails or falls apart. Participants celebrate this failure and start again, modelling resilience and adaptability.
Improv exercises for creativity and problem-solving
Creativity is not a mystery, nor is it magic. It is a practical skill that can be applied to any situation with an undefined outcome, whether it be a product launch, a last-minute dinner or an afternoon with a friend. It is also a skill which can be learned through practice.
Improvisation exercises build creativity through a combination of experimentation and immediate application. We do not deal in the abstract, but set ourselves a task, make many ideas, and then see which work. We call this making many things.
Improv exercises for creativity and problem-solving include:
- Three-line scenes: Following a structure, participants act out simple scenes of three lines each, starting with a simple idea, adding details and emotion. This models creating many solutions to the same problem.
- Yes/No stories: One person tells a story one line at a time, with another participant responding ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to each line. Participants can experiment with how they respond to failure and learn to model resilience in a light and fun way.
What about feedback?
To maintain the momentum, AndAlso workplace sessions generally have fewer, longer reflection points. The first point of feedback is likely to be fairly open, inviting participants to share what they observe, noticing the similarities and differences in their experience. Later feedback points will more explicitly connect to the session aim. During these sections, our facilitators aim to affirm participants’ experience, rather than give advice or solve the problem. We normally finish a session with an opportunity to reflect on and share both learnings that can be applied immediately and how they relate to broader, longer-term goals. For a fuller picture of how a session runs, see what to expect in a workplace improv session.
Why facilitation matters in workplace improv
In truth, many improvisation exercises can be found online, and many non-specialists have started to incorporate them into their training. But the key to great workplace improv training is in the framing, atmosphere, and feedback. Working with organisations from many different sectors, AndAlso has learned to respond to the people in the room, tailoring the flow, feedback, and structure to challenge and inspire whoever we are working with. This means we keep the lightness and fun that improv brings, but ensure that everything stays focused on the learning outcome of the session.
How these exercises appear in AndAlso workplace programmes
The exercises above are a small sample of what we draw on. In practice, we choose and sequence exercises around your team’s goals, so the same game can look quite different in a leadership programme than in a conference energiser. Here’s where you’re most likely to meet them:
- Teambuilding through improvisation: a one-off session where fun comes first, built around listening and collaboration exercises such as Life in a minute and Three in a circle.
- Presentations, public speaking and networking skills: confidence and presence exercises like 8 things help people find their voice in front of a group.
- Innovation and ideation for groups: creativity exercises such as Three-line scenes and Yes/No stories give teams practice at making many ideas and letting go of the ones that don’t work.
- The improvised leader: a longer programme where listening, giving space and building together are explored in depth and connected to leaders’ day-to-day work.
- Effective online meetings: many of these exercises adapt well to video calls, helping remote teams listen and contribute more evenly.
- Conference support services: short, high-energy versions of these exercises, from a single energiser to a full conference takeover.
Not sure which fits? Explore our popular programmes or get in touch and we’ll suggest a starting point.
FAQs about workplace improv exercises
Definitely. By providing clear structures and aims, improv is accessible to anyone, from the shyest to the loudest. We understand that the challenges are different for everyone and can tailor the experience to any combination of people. To tell an industry secret, many improvisers are introverts themselves!
Absolutely not! Performance is only a small part of what improvisation is, and many exercises are done in groups of two to four people. Although nearly all of our workshops include an opportunity for performance, it is never obligatory. However, we often find that people who were nervous at the start of a session get a lot out of the opportunity.
Being improvisers, we are very flexible. We can offer anything from a ten-minute conference energiser to ongoing weekly training, or even a weekend executive retreat. Get in touch, and we can discuss how we can fit into your schedule or event.
Yes! AndAlso founders Jules Munns and Heather Urquhart were teaching online even before the COVID-19 pandemic, and our trainers have taught hundreds of hours on Zoom. Our trainers are among the most experienced in the world at adapting improv to the online environment, from small groups to large meetings.
Using improv exercises in a training context makes the sessions participatory by default, so the atmosphere in our training is lively and engaging. We ensure that participants experience the learnings, not just understand them in theory. This means that participants are immediately able to apply what they have learned. To see how this has worked for other organisations, read our workplace case studies and testimonials.
You can! Many improv exercises are simple to explain, and there’s no harm in trying a few with your team. The difference is usually in the framing and the reflection afterwards. Without them, a great exercise can easily slide back into an awkward icebreaker. If you’d like to bring improv into your own training or coaching, our Improvisation skills for trainers and coaches programme shows you how to choose, run and debrief exercises with confidence.
Let’s talk about your team
Whether you’re planning a team day, a leadership programme or a conference session, we’d love to hear what you’re working on. Book a discovery call or drop us an email, and we’ll help you find the right starting point for your team.