The Importance of Getting Through The Holidays

Hey Everyone,

This is going to be mostly for people on house teams but it also works for people on indie teams as well.

December to January are the two months out of the year that can kill teams. It's true. Here are the reasons.

1) Less Rehearsals
2) Worse Shows (due to less rehearsals)
3) Stressful times outside of improv
4) Unable to Schedule anything.
5) People are on vacation

Think of any of those 5 things happening at any time of year. I've had teams that have imploded due to ONE of those items. The only reason why it kills teams is because team members assume that the reasons any of these items are happening is because "They aren't committed to the team".

When, in actuality, there are really good reasons. Now, if you have a person on a team that consistently doesn't come to rehearsals or leaves early or get's in late and has a schedule that forces everyone to resent them, then eventually you should probably just get rid of that person. However, in these months, EVERYONE is doing these things.

Here's the key to keeping things together.

1) Realize that it will happen.
2) Don't punish people for their schedules.
3) Have as much fun in shows as possible.
4) NEVER EVER assume something about your team due to a bad show during this time.

Bad shows happen all the time. They may happen multiple times in a row.  If you're doing a perfect show, then you are NOT learning. Learn from bad shows, don't beat yourself up.

Trying things that are new, fun and different during this time is great! You can always blame the oddness on attempts to better yourself.

Celebrate the times you have with these people. Use the time that they're away to miss them. The reunion of a team in the new year should be an exciting time.

Best of luck everyone. Love your team and never judge yourself!