‘Yes, and...’
Editor's note: Michelle Lenzen is founder of Humans at Heart, a Houston research firm.
One by one, people in dress pants shuffle in with timid smiles and quiet hellos. They grab seats and sit in silence, hunched over their phones. We’re hosting a focus group for IT professionals today and the energy in the room is low. But what if I told you that in five minutes flat, every grown man and woman at the table would be up out of their seats, making bold eye contact and belly-laughing out loud?
Welcome to the magical world of applied improvisation. It starts with “Yes, and” and ends with collaboration, creativity and connection. For qualitative researchers, improvisation can be an invaluable tool in building synergy among research participants. To understand how you can use applied improvisation in your next focus group, let’s start with the background on improv and how it works.
Developed to enhance empathy, improvisation is a spontaneous and creative process to accomplish an objective in a new way (Vera and Crossen 2005). It consists of deeply human exercises and games done without preparation. While many people associate improv with jazz, theatre or comedy, i.e., Whose Line Is It Anyway?, the basic principles of improv can be applied to other fields like research, consulting or facilitating via an approach known as applied improvisation. For market researchers, applied improvisation can be a quick, low-stakes way to bring participants together.
For example, the mission of an improv game can be as simple as: “I have an imaginary red ball in my hands that I’m going to throw to you. Catch it!” Or, it can be more complex and require dynamic problem-solving: “Here’s a challenge for the group. Can you make a large rabbit with all of your bodies in 10 seconds or less?”
Thanks to their fast-paced style, improv games rely on reflexes and leave no time for overthinking. They are an excellent catalyst to heighten everyone’s awareness in the present moment.
When people are focused on collaborating to accomplish a mission, something intriguing happens: barriers break down, eyes meet eyes and people connect without thinking. Researchers have been studying the effects of improv on groups of people for years and the findings are worth noting.
Gaining traction
In recent years, the study of improv’s application in the business world has been gaining traction. Second City, the birthplace of modern improvisational comedy, recently teamed up with the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business’s Center for Decision Research to explore the intersection between behavioral science and improvisation in the workplace.
While their clinical research is ongoing, there is significant existing academic research pointing to the vast and plentiful benefits of improv. Study after study is uncovering the remarkable ways applied improv exercises can enhance group dynamics, foster a supportive and innovative environment and encourage divergent thinking.
Applied improv is a direct way to build synergy, which is one of the key advantages of using focus groups in qualitative research. Each improv exercise focuses on a mission that requires participants to connect and communicate in order to accomplish an objective. Tasks within games may include learning the other participants’ names, making eye contact and working as a team to accomplish a goal. While simple, each of these tasks encourages people to see and acknowledge each other as human.
Sometimes extraordinary cooperation arises during these tasks – egos diminish and people sync up – a phenomenon known as “group mind” (Halpern et al., 1994). Feeling in sync during improvisation exercises builds both camaraderie and respect among participants. As one study found, improv can be an integral part of teamwork, one that leads to creativity and creative outputs (Hains-Wesson, Pollard and Campbell 2017).
If you open a focus group with applied improv exercises, the feelings of human connection will carry over when you shift to the topic of discussion. You’ll find sitting and talking together feels intuitive and effortless after the adrenaline pump of an improv game. Participants will acknowledge each other by name, make eye contact and organically build off of the shared ideas.
Driving innovative discussions
Improv can also be a catalyst for driving innovative discussions. Thanks to the golden rule of improvisation – the idea of “Yes, and…,” under which an improviser builds on an idea of his or her partner by saying “Yes, and…” rather than shooting it down – improvisation exercises help build a positive and non-threatening environment where people feel safe to take risks, share their opinions and make collective decisions (Kirsten and du Preez 2010).
“Yes, and…” means supporting each other to the nth degree. For example, instead of saying, “No, I think that’s a terrible idea,” the guiding principle of improv helps people flip the script with positive framing: “Yes, and what if we added this too?…”
Practicing positive language during warm-up exercises helps focus group participants build each other up. Nothing shuts down group morale like an overpowering “No.” If you can give people the language to recognize each other’s ideas and add their own contributions, you help set the stage for productive conversation.
Along with creating a positive environment, improv exercises can also be used to encourage sharing wild and abstract ideas. Improvisation has been found to be an effective tool for giving people the freedom and space to break away from set patterns of thinking (Lewis and Lovatt 2013).
Certain exercises, like Shout the Wrong Name (explained at the end of this article), can be extremely valuable before starting brainstorm discussions in focus groups. Try using an improv game before open-ended questions and watch how it impacts the discussion.
With over two-thirds of all qualitative research dollars going to focus groups (ESOMAR Global Market Research Report 2015), market researchers are faced with a huge opportunity and challenge: How might we cultivate synergy among small groups of research participants to create the optimal environment for trust, creativity and innovation?
While there is no singular formula for success, applied improvisation looks like a promising route to building the ideal dynamics for a focus group. Of course, focus groups have their own limitations, i.e., a focus group is only as strong as the moderator. Fortunately, improv exercises are easy to learn, simple to implement and only take about five minutes to execute.
A few rules to learn
Ready to use improv exercises to build synergy during your next focus group? The art of improvisation only has a few hard and fast rules to learn before you begin.
Yes, and…
Support each other, build on each other’s ideas and avoid denying another person.
Focus on the mission.
Each game has a goal or mission – stay in the present moment to work with the people around you to achieve it.
Don’t think too much.
Improv games are designed to be fast-paced and imperfect, so say the first thing that comes to your mind and don’t think too much.
It’s also important to tell participants why they are doing these improv exercises. Here’s an example script:
“Today, we’re going to warm up with a quick improvisation game called Cross the Circle. This game is going to help us connect, learn each other’s names and build some synergy before we get started. There are only three rules: Yes, and (support each other), focus on the mission and don’t think too much.”
As long as you introduce the purpose and guidelines of improvisation to the group, the magic should unfold organically.
As you plan your next focus group, consider adding one of following three games to the agenda. I’ve tested each of these games with a variety of focus group audiences, from students and entrepreneurs to plumbers and IT professionals. The more confident you are when leading these exercises, the more supported the group will feel.
Take a look at each game explained in detail below and see each exercise in action at www.humansatheart.com/resources.
Introduction game - Cross the Circle
Goal: This game is a fast-paced, low-stakes way for everyone to learn each other’s names.
Benefits: Cut tension, build synergy and get everyone in the group warmed up and ready to open up and collaborate.
When to play: Immediately after you give the introduction and start the focus group.
Time needed: 5-7 minutes.
Instructions: Find a space big enough for everyone to stand in a circle. You may need to step into a hallway or rearrange furniture. Once in a circle, each person will go around and say their name while standing still. Have participants imagine their feet are stuck in quicksand and they can only move when they say someone's name. The game starts with one person, A, calling someone else’s name, B. Once A calls a name, her feet are released from the quicksand and she starts walking towards the person she called (B). But before A gets to B, B needs to call a different name. He cannot move until he calls a name. The goal is to think quick so that each person can move before the person walking towards them reaches them.
See it in action: www.humansatheart.com/crossthecircle
Energy-builder - Who Started the Movement?
Goal: Mirror each other’s movements to laugh and connect with the other participants.
Benefits: Build synergy, get participants moving, laughing and alert.
When to play: Use this game to energize a group midway through.
Time needed: 5-7 minutes.
Instructions: Have all participants stand in a large circle. Ask for a volunteer to stand in the center of the circle and close their eyes. With a silent gesture, select a leader from around the circle. This person is going to start doing a movement, i.e., tapping her feet. Once she starts, everyone mirrors the movement. Instruct the person in the center to open their eyes and try to guess who’s starting the movement. The leader can continue changing her movement while the person in the center turns around to guess who’s starting it. The group will continue mirroring the leader.
See it in action: www.humansatheart.com/whostartedthemovement
Brainstorm warm-up - Shout the Wrong Name
Goal: Walk about the space, think quickly and speak out loud freely.
Benefits: Break away from set patterns of thinking.
When to play: Before a creative brainstorm session; in the middle of a focus group if the energy starts to fade.
Time needed: 4 minutes.
Instructions: Have participants stand up and walk about the room. For the first round, instruct everyone to point to a random object in the room and shout the name of the object. For example, “Lamp! Chair! Light! Paper! Desk!” After everyone gets the hang of it, change up the rules. Now participants will point to an object and say the wrong name. They can call it anything except the object’s real name. It might sound like this: “Caterpillar! Grandpa! Milkshake! Magazine!” This turns out to be a funny, low-stakes game to shake things up.
See it in action: www.humansatheart.com/shout
Changes the energy
Whichever improv exercise you choose, trust in the process. Let yourself take a risk to play a game with your participants and watch how it changes the energy in the room. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see how quickly you can go from awkward silence to authentic human connection. Yes, all it takes is five minutes – and a little bit of confidence.
References
Bermant, G. 2013. “Working with(out) a net: improvisational theater and enhanced well-being.” Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 929. Available at: http://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00929 (Accessed March 1, 2018).
Crossan, M., and Vera, D. 2005. “Improvisation and innovative performance in teams.” Available at: https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1050.0126(Accessed March 1, 2018)
Halpern C., Close D., Johnson K.H. 1994. Truth in Comedy. Colorado Springs, CO: Meriwether.
Hains-Wesson, R., and Pollard, V., and Campbell, A. 2017. “A three-stage process of improvisation for teamwork: Action research.” Issues in Educational Research. 27. 82-98. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312461652_A_three-stage_process_of_improvisation_for_teamwork_Action_research (Accessed March 1, 2018)
Kirsten, B., and du Preez, R. 2010. “Improvisational theatre as team development intervention for climate for work group innovation.” SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 36(1), 9 pages. Available at: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v36i1.862 (Accessed March 1, 2018)
Lewis, C., and Lovatt, P. 2013. “Breaking away from set patterns of thinking: Improvisation and divergent thinking.” Thinking Skills and Creativity, Volume 9, Pages 46-58, ISSN 1871-1871. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1871187113000151 (Accessed March 1, 2018)
Second City Works. 2018. “Insights and applied improvisation: The science behind ‘Yes, and.’” Available at: http://secondcityworks.com/offerings/insights-and-applied-improvisation/ (Accessed March 1, 2018)