Business Class Uses Improvisation to Teach Team Building and Other Workplace Skills
Experiential Learning and Partnership in Action
Professional Presence Class
On a recent morning, students shuffled into Morgan Lord’s Business Administration 420 class at the historic Jane Addams Hull-House, still sleepy-eyed and mostly quiet.
But within minutes, Lord had the students up on their feet and filling the room with laughter, clapping and shouts of encouragement as they participated in improvisational games created decades earlier within the same walls.
The Professional Presence class, also known as Business Administration 420, is part of UIC’s professional development program, which uses improvisation to help students build confidence, strengthen leadership skills and learn team building — all skills that can serve them in future careers in business.
In the class, Lord shows the students how UIC’s Jane Addams Hull-House Museum fosters creativity, inclusion and social connections. This morning, she used improvisation games on the site where improvisational theater was developed by Viola Spolin and Neva Boyd, instructors at Hull-House in the 1920s.
“UIC Business is unique because few business programs incorporate improvisation, and we’re doing it right here in Chicago, the birthplace of improv,” Lord said. “I see real value in how these skills apply to the workplace. Students can sometimes feel anxious or hesitant to speak up, but in our classes of 18 students, you can’t really stay on the sidelines. And when you’re playing games, you don’t want to.”
A lecturer at the Institute for Leadership Excellence and Development in the college, Lord emphasizes self-reflection, relationship-building and public speaking, with a strong focus on experiential learning through improv games and group activities. The class is required for transfer students and helps them make connections with new classmates on campus. It’s also part of the leadership minor, which is open to all UIC undergrads.
“We all want to work together,” Lord said. “Each game focuses on building a skill, even something as small as speaking up. Some students can feel a little reserved, so a game might help them find their voice and use it with confidence.”