ALLIGATOR IMPROV AND SELF EXPRESSION

This 2.5-hour workshop can accommodate any number of employees, though smaller, more intimate groups are recommended. It is available in Vancouver and the surrounding Metro Vancouver area.

I take my experience as a software developer of 15 years, improviser (13 years), and facilitator (5 years) and use it to make software teams a better, more productive place to work.

The work we do as developers can be very isolating. And isolation can hurt performance. Parallel programming and swarming on difficult issues can help, and I recommend these approaches, but understand that there can be resistance to adopting these ways of working from individuals and the business. But there's another way that helps connect developers to each other and the resources they need and encourages a team to help each other more, and that's developing psychological safety and communication skills experientially through improv.

What is psychological safety?

Psychological safety in the workplace is the belief that you can speak up, ask a question, admit a mistake, or offer a different perspective, without fear of embarrassment or punishment.

Psychological safety does not require sharing personal information with your co-workers or "bringing your whole self to work". I will NEVER ask you to share personal information with colleagues in my workshops.

One thing improv is great for is getting us to stop overdoing metacognition. To turn down the part of our brains that overthinks what we're going to say and how others see us. It also teaches us, in moments that we feel naked and exposed and like we don't know what we're doing or what to say, to listen and think about supporting each other. We work on teams of humans, not machines. In a workplace that increasingly involves working with AI agents, we can all use practical reminders of what that means and how to navigate it. If you have 6 different bugs in your pull request, it helps to have that humility and compassion for yourself, and doubly so if your teammates have that for you too.

Improv has long been used to help teams work together, and has helped scientists better communicate with civilians about complex topics. Alan Alda's work in this space has shown that just one workshop can help scientists better communicate technical concepts to civilians. Improv can help developers communicate with non-technical staff and help them communicate with each other.

The famous Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen coined the phrase “It's easier to hold your principles 100 percent of the time than it is to hold them 98 percent of the time.” This refers to his research showing that when a value and associated behavior are part of company culture, far less time is wasted on decision-making around that desired behavior, both individually and as a group. His research also shows that even employees whose personal values don't align with the culture will make decisions based on this priority if it is a strong part of company culture. If everyone is expected to drop what they're doing when someone needs support, employees experience far less resistance towards unblocking each other by sharing information, reviewing a pull request, or whatever else is required to enable the work. If you want the effects of these workshops to be the norm, not the exception, regular upkeep is recommended. If you invest in regular workshops, it's not just a way to get developers to start thinking about working together more cohesively and communicating better with non-technical staff; it becomes part of your culture and reduces friction to behaving this way 100% of the time. Because I want to work with companies who are ready to make this a part of their culture, after the first workshop, all subsequent workshops will be priced at a 25% discount.

To find out more about our 8-week pilot program coming soon, with opportunities for further discounts in exchange for being a part of a research project, reach out to admin@alligatorimprov.com for details.

The price for these workshops will increase the longer I do this work in the Vancouver area. To be upfront and to not undercut others 900$ is under market value, so do take advantage of the price or the pilot program while you can.

Once you have completed your purchase here, reach out to admin@alligatorimprov.com to book your workshop.

If you're not sure if this workshop is right for your team or if you are located within an acceptable range of Vancouver, reach out to admin@alligatorimprov.com to ask questions or to schedule a 15-minute consultation call.