comments from Karen Hough, Founder and CEO, ImprovEdge

This isn’t going away.

“Back to the office” will not be what we remembered.

The future of work will now forever have virtual and safety elements wrapped around in-person office environments. What 2020 taught us is that 2021 will continue to be different for leaders and teams to find pace, productivity, and connection. Much of that challenge continues in leaders’ abilities to meet people where they’re at (physically, mentally, emotionally) and bring out the best in their team.

Effective management of virtual and hybrid virtual/in-person teams is revealed in productivity, engagement and retention.

To get there, though, we have to lean on some tools and techniques that we may have not previously explored or strengthened as leaders.

Live, virtual, hybrid - we are all learning how to navigate multiple environments. To set the stage for success, leaders and teams need to model their culture and set clear boundaries.

That’s why we created our ‘Future of Work’ series to bring you fresh research, new exercises and curates the best tools for managing diverse teams using empathy, collaboration and improvisation.

There are three 90-minute sessions guaranteed to engage your team with authenticity and improv. Here’s a snapshot of the program:

• Presence - Part I: Virtual Professional Presence- this initial experience explores how we show up virtually and tackles the pitfalls and challenges of virtual presence using interactive exercises that will drive participants to find a presence that is professional and sustainable.
• Set the Stage - Part II: Successful Virtual Teams- this session delves into the science of effective meetings, delegation of duties, keeping your team on-track, and different methodologies for virtual communication. Most important? Being an example of how meetings should work, and when they shouldn’t occur at all.
• Flexibility - Part III: Building Perseverance in Times of Change- this final engagement explores how to apply the techniques and behaviors used by professional improvisers to build staying power, resiliency, and trust during times of change. The session also addresses the hormonal and physical changes caused by stress and how they affect the brain and behavior. We reference neuroscience and psychology research to ground our techniques in a way that makes sense, even for skeptics.

We can’t wait to work with you and your team to embrace all that 2021 has to offer – everything that we can (and can’t) imagine yet.

Keep improvising!