How can we use Art and Movement to Build Better Teams?
Tired of the endless corporate team-building sessions that fail to make a lasting impact? Discover the power of arts-based learning to foster innovation, collaboration, and long-term team success.
Photo Description: A close up of watercolor paints and brushes on the left, with stacked finished paintings on the right
How many hours of ‘corporate training’ would you say you have to take every year and how much of them do you actually remember?
How many team off-sites have you attended that were fun, but did not really lead to any positive changes for your team?
In our fast-paced world of soundbites, social media, and more, our attention spans tend to be rather short. This makes knowledge retention and behavior change for the typical ‘talk at you’ corporate training programs very difficult. Many participants struggle to listen to a presenter, anxious that they are missing key work hours where they could have completed their necessary tasks.
Yet, when we look at team building workshops or the typical off-site activity, many of them fit into one of two buckets:
Content-based training where a facilitator talks at the audience for the majority of the session - these can be informative, but boring
Fun team-building sessions that allow participants do an activity together (e.g. paint by numbers, ropes course, escape room, etc.) - these are engaging, but do not include skill-building needed for their daily work
What if there was a way to combine both of these concepts - skill-based training and engaging learning activities - so participants not only enjoy the workshop, but learn key skills to work better together on a day to day basis?
This is where arts-based learning comes into play.
Art-based learning uses the act of creation and creativity to teach concepts outside of artistic skill. For example, let’s say our team wants to develop a clear and powerful mission statement and a vision for the next 3 years. We can perform a collaborative collage activity to develop the mission and vision represented in images and art. Not only is the team exploring their creativity together, they are building a road map for their future. Research shows that art-based learning has a variety of benefits, such as better executive functioning, communication, empathy, and more.
These experiences of artistic expression are shown to help us build neural networks in different ways that lead to deeper and longer term knowledge retention. When we step outside of the typical ways we engage at work, we are able to open up doors for innovation and exploration. This helps us not only with the transfer of knowledge for the specific skills in the training itself, but can also develop our skills around problem solving and critical thinking.
In addition to visual arts, such as drawing/painting/collage/etc., another methodology that is backed by research to bring people together and spark creative thinking is the art of dance and movement. Research indicates that dance and movement activities can:
Help a group of individuals feel more connected to one another and build trust - particularly helpful in team-building environments
Help improve problem solving skills, including boosting creativity
Help support employee well-being, such as decreasing negative affect and enabling emotional regulation
When teams create, dance, and explore art together, they not only learn new skills but develop stronger bonds with one another.
Emerging research indicates how impactful arts-based learning can be in business settings today. It is shown to help spark innovation and creativity in overcoming business challenges, in addition to developing collaboration and teamwork across the organization.
Research from the Association of Training and Development found that “high-performing firms were about three times more likely than lower performers to use experiential learning for both the front-line and executive-level leaders.” Experiential learning ensures the knowledge is transferred and the necessary skills are developed, leading to real results on the ground.
Want to build collaborative and innovative teams in your organization?
Experiential arts-based workshops can help.
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Author, Nicole Ennen, is the Founder of Org Empathy Consulting, a working artist, and a certified Movement in Practice Facilitator. She combines her I/O Psychology M.A., a decade of experience in business consulting, and artistic expertise to develop experiential workshops for leaders and teams.
Have an offsite coming up and need an engaging workshop to help build your team’s skills and culture? Reach out to Nicole here: https://www.organizationalempathy.com/get-started