At a glance

AndAlso delivers tailored improv in the workplace training for organisations looking to improve communication, collaboration, confidence and adaptability.

Introduction

Following the success of an earlier leadership workshop, a global luxury organisation invited AndAlso back to design and deliver an evolved experience for a larger cohort of senior women leaders.

Rather than simply repeating a successful session, we worked in partnership to evolve the programme for a larger cohort, preserving the confidence-building, connection and joy of the original experience while creating even more opportunities for participation, reflection and leadership application.

The goal was to help senior women leaders strengthen executive presence, communicate with confidence, build trust across the organisation and develop practical leadership behaviours they could immediately apply in their roles.

About the programme

This workshop formed part of a leadership development programme for senior women working across a global luxury organisation. Bringing together experienced leaders from different parts of the business, the programme focused on strengthening executive presence, collaboration and leadership capability through shared learning experiences.

The challenge: helping senior women leaders navigate uncertainty with confidence

Senior leadership often means making decisions without complete information.

For this group of forty experienced women leaders, the organisation wanted something different from a traditional leadership seminar. They wanted a highly participative learning experience that would move beyond discussion and give leaders the opportunity to practise the behaviours required in complex, fast-moving environments.

The workshop needed to help participants:

• Feel comfortable with uncertainty.
• Communicate with confidence and flexibility.
• Build trust across different parts of the business.
• Strengthen collaboration and peer support.
• Leave with practical tools they could immediately apply back at work.

The programme also needed to balance meaningful learning with genuine enjoyment, creating space for leaders to experiment, take risks and learn together.

Creating meaningful behaviour change through applied improvisation

Leadership development is most effective when people have the opportunity to explore, test and refine behaviours in practice. Applied improvisation creates a dynamic environment where leaders can strengthen communication, collaboration and decision-making while navigating the ambiguity and complexity they encounter every day.

At AndAlso, every programme begins long before we step into the room. We work closely with stakeholders to understand the organisation, its culture, strategic objectives and the outcomes they want to achieve. This discovery process enables us to design genuinely bespoke workshops, ensuring every exercise, reflection and discussion is purposeful, relevant and aligned with the realities of the people in the room.

Our facilitators don’t arrive with an off-the-shelf workshop. We immerse ourselves in each client’s world, taking the time to understand their challenges, language and ways of working. The result is a learning experience that feels authentic and immediately applicable, helping participants connect every activity to the leadership challenges they face every day.

For this programme, that meant designing an experience that reflected the ambitions of a global women’s leadership initiative, helping participants strengthen executive presence, deepen collaboration, navigate ambiguity with confidence and build stronger connections across the leadership cohort.

Crucially, learning doesn’t stop when the workshop ends. Through expert facilitation and structured reflection, participants are supported to translate insight into practical action. Rather than leaving with a collection of theories, they leave having explored new ways of communicating, listening and leading, making it far more likely that learning will transfer into meaningful behaviour change back in the workplace.

It’s this combination of thoughtful programme design, expert facilitation and more than twenty years of experience delivering applied improvisation in organisations that enables AndAlso to create leadership experiences that are engaging, memorable and designed to deliver lasting impact.

The objective: building presence, adaptability and stronger collaboration

The workshop was designed to help participants:

• Lead confidently through change and ambiguity.
• Adapt their communication to different people and situations.
• Strengthen creative thinking and decision-making under pressure.
• Build trust through collaboration rather than competition.
• Develop stronger connections across the leadership cohort.

The approach: using applied improvisation to build confident, collaborative leaders

The workshop combined applied improvisation, facilitated reflection and structured debrief to help participants explore leadership behaviours in practice. 

Each exercise was selected to reinforce the programme objectives and translated directly into workplace application through facilitated discussion.

Rather than asking people to “perform”, the workshop created a psychologically safe environment where experimentation, curiosity and shared learning became the focus.

Workshop structure

• Fast-paced warm-ups to build trust and psychological safety.
• Storytelling exercises to strengthen active listening.
• Improvisation activities exploring the power of “Yes, and…” communication.
• Collaborative games encouraging participants to support one another under pressure.
• Practical reflection linking every exercise back to leadership.
• A collaborative finale celebrating confidence, creativity and connection.

The impact: stronger connections, lasting learning and a partnership that continues to grow

The workshop strengthened peer relationships across the women’s leadership cohort and reinforced the objectives of the client’s programme through practical behavioural learning. 

Having previously experienced the impact of applied improvisation, the organisation invited AndAlso back to evolve the programme for a larger cohort.

This latest workshop created stronger leadership confidence, deeper peer connection and practical tools for leading through uncertainty;

Highlights included:

• An ongoing client partnership, with AndAlso invited back to build on the success of a previous leadership programme.
• Forty senior women leaders participating in an interactive applied improv workshop.
• High levels of engagement throughout the afternoon.
• Stronger collaboration across participants from different parts of the organisation.
• The workshop becoming one of the standout talking points over dinner and into the following day’s programme.
• Multiple positive mentions in the official programme evaluation.
• A shared inside joke (“croissant”) that became shorthand for the group’s experience together, a small but powerful sign that the learning had genuinely stuck.

Client feedback

“It went even better than we could have imagined.”

“I wanted to take this opportunity to share my gratitude and thanks for facilitating such a wonderful workshop and experience for the group. It went even better than we could have imagined, and the group couldn’t stop talking about it over dinner and the following day. There were lots of mentions of it in our programme evaluation too, so it clearly made a lasting impression. The group has even adopted the word ‘croissant’ as their inside joke, which is testament to how the experience has stayed with them.”

Our workplace improvisation workshops create happier, braver, more connected teams. Here’s what some of the organisations we’ve worked with have to say…

How applied improvisation develops better leaders

Applied improvisation gives leaders the opportunity to strengthen the behaviours that matter most in today’s organisations: communicating with clarity, adapting to uncertainty, building trust and collaborating effectively under pressure.

At AndAlso, every exercise is designed around clear leadership objectives and supported by expert facilitation, structured reflection and practical application. Rather than delivering generic leadership content, we create opportunities for participants to explore real leadership challenges, test different approaches and develop behaviours they can apply immediately in their roles.

This combination of thoughtful programme design, behavioural practice and facilitated reflection creates learning that is engaging, memorable and designed to deliver lasting impact for both individuals and organisations.

Key takeaways for leadership teams

• Behavioural change is accelerated through practice.
• High-performing leadership teams rely on active listening.
• Supporting others creates stronger teams.
• Play creates psychological safety, making learning more memorable.
• Shared experiences help new leadership behaviours stick long after the workshop ends.

Explore more workplace training solutions

1. Improv in the Workplace training
2. Applied improvisation 
3. Leadership development 
4. Communication workshops 
5. Team building 
6. Conference elevation
7. What our clients say
8. Book a discovery call
9. Email us

Frequently asked questions about applied improvisation for leadership teams

Why was applied improvisation a good fit for the organisation’s Women’s Leadership Programme?

This leadership programme brings together accomplished women leaders from across the organisation to learn, connect and grow. Applied improvisation complemented these objectives by creating opportunities to strengthen executive presence, build trust across the cohort and explore leadership behaviours in practice. The result was an engaging, memorable experience that participants continued talking about long after the workshop had ended.

Is applied improvisation suitable for senior leaders?

Absolutely. In fact, it’s particularly effective for experienced leaders because it focuses on the behaviours that matter most at senior level: communication, executive presence, adaptability, collaboration and decision-making in uncertain situations. Our workshops are designed to challenge and engage participants in a professional, supportive environment, with no acting experience required and no pressure to perform.

How can workshops be tailored to organisational objectives?

Every AndAlso workshop is designed from the ground up around your organisation’s goals. We begin by getting to know your business, culture, language and the outcomes you want to achieve, working closely with stakeholders to shape a programme that’s relevant, engaging and immediately applicable. Whether the focus is leadership development, communication, team cohesion or organisational change, every exercise and debrief is selected with your objectives in mind.

How do you measure the success of a workshop?

Success looks different for every organisation, which is why we agree the desired outcomes before we design the session. Feedback, participant engagement and stakeholder reflections all help us evaluate impact, alongside the practical changes teams take back into their day-to-day work. Our aim is always the same: to create learning experiences that people remember, apply and continue talking about long after the workshop has ended.

How long are AndAlso workplace workshops?

Every organisation is different, so our workshops are designed around your objectives, audience and available time. Sessions can range from 90-minute conference interventions to half-day and full-day leadership programmes, with longer development journeys available where appropriate.

Let’s design something that’s right for your people

Every organisation is different, which is why every AndAlso programme is designed around your people, your objectives and the behaviours you want to develop.

Whether you’re developing leaders, strengthening communication or bringing teams closer together, we’d love to help create an experience that’s practical, memorable and genuinely enjoyable.

Let’s start the conversation.