Fred Astaire meets Frederick Taylor

With the aim of developing a more sustained inquiry on the new managerial dementia, and at the prompting of Monsieur K-Punk, I offer the reader this veritable gem which just landed in my inbox: I have removed sundry institutional identifiers and the proper names of the contingent personifications of this increasingly deranged logic of "performance". I have not added a single word. Honest.

STAFF DEVELOPMENT in conjunction with the DANCE MOVEMENT THERAPY programme would like to invite you to this teambuilding workshop with a difference. Using innovative techniques developed by Laban and Lawrence and Lamb to understand patterns of movement and their behavioural significance in the workplace, this workshop will apply a creative approach to explore an issue of interest to staff - how to make the most of difference and work better in teams.

Background
Rudolph Laban and Frederick Lawrence pioneered this study in the 1940s, observing manual workers' movements which they termed the 'industrial rhythm'. Lamb, who began as their apprentice before setting up his own consultancy, took this work forward to observe white collar and managerial workers, developing a theory of Movement Pattern Analysis (MPA) which has since been widely used in organisations for management development:

'It was...this matching of movement against decision-making model that enabled a leap to be made from observing operatives and workers on the plant floor to looking at managers.' (Lamb, 'Development of Movement Pattern Analysis.' in Moore, C-L. 'Movement and Making Decisions: The Body-Mind Connection in the Workplace' ( 2005) New York:Dance Movement Press)

Intrigued? Experience it for yourself by signing up for the workshop:

Aim:
To demonstrate how creative work using visual and kinaesthetic tools can deepen awareness of self and other whilst taking over the necessary roles as a team member or as the leader of a team. By offering alternative conceptual skills the main aim is to improve the cooperation and communication in a team.

Objectives:
* Explore simple movement exercises individually, in pairs and in small groups
* Begin to identify personal movement preferences and recognise others' strengths and differences
* Learn basic Laban movement observation and analysis principles
* Consider own relationship to personal preferences and role expectations in a team
* Develop small group work skills through creation of an 'ideal' working environment, identifying ground rules. Utilise visual and kinaesthetic resources to assist this process and ultimately create a 'moving tableau'
* Raise awareness of personal and group's relationship to current working environment and identify action plan for improvement
* Discuss and evaluate process throughout the workshop to clarify learning points and growing (self-)awareness