Musivate’s unique ukulele workshops target communication and working together

London, UK -- (SBWire) -- 05/08/2014 --Music can move a person, calm them, make them want to get up and dance – and now it’s being used with great success as a tool for team building in many well-known large companies.

Musivate (that's musical motivation personified, to the uninitiated) run ukulele workshops, which teach groups of colleagues to play a couple of simple songs, with everyone working together towards their final performance, and having great fun at the same time.

Founded by ex-events manager-turned music teacher Lorraine Bow, Musivate has taken the joy of strumming and singing to many major organisations including Google, Comic Relief, PwC and LOCOG – the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games.

She said: “Our sessions work as brilliant ice-breakers as well as team building exercises.”

“You don’t need to have any musical experience to take part but a ukulele team building session requires a team to work together to make music. Each participant is important, and their input is necessary for the group to achieve success in this exercise, and play a song together.”

Though there are set packages to choose from, each Musivate session is designed around the specific needs of the particular team. It can be used to challenge the usual employment hierarchies, giving everyone a new role to play within the group. New groups of people who haven’t worked together before can get to know each other and will need to work as a team as they get to grips with their ukulele and the difference each individual is making to the group. Musivate can create bespoke competitions for participants as part of goal-orientated challenges for staff, and they can also provide ukulele ice-breaking sessions for conferences and events.

Lorraine, who plays with KaraUke and also teaches the four-stringed instrument in adult group lessons with Learn To Uke, provides up to 100 brightly-coloured ukuleles for each session. Everyone is shown the basics, step by step in a comprehensive and easy to follow way. Within an hour, participants will be able to play at least one song.

“The ukulele isn’t as difficult as some instruments and it’s great fun,” said Lorraine, who started playing in 2007.

“But to make music together, you have to listen to each other and work together. We also encourage everyone to have a go at singing, so it’s a great way to open up and get to know your colleagues better.”

Musivate, which also features instructors Andy Astle (one of the founders of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain) and Nick Browning (who also plays with the Ukulele Orchestra on occasion), is unique in the UK.

The company can film your session or make it into a music video so that you have a lasting reminder of what you achieve, and can source ukuleles and provide further instruction for those who are bitten by the bug and want to learn more.

Lorraine said: “If the team members experience success working together in a musical environment, they will be able to transfer these teamwork lessons to their normal work environment, therefore becoming a more effective team. It can be highly effective in pulling a group together. It has been proven that teams who communicate well are happier and are therefore more productive.”

“Plus, it’s a brilliant laugh – it’s fantastic to see everyone smiling and having fun as they embark on their ukulele crash course, and it’s something they’ll talk about for a long time to come.”

Central London-based Lorraine started running regular team building exercises after being asked to organise an event for Comic Relief, and since then, Musivate has continued to grow.

To see Lorraine and a team building workshop in action go to http://vimeo.com/45903446.

To find out more or to book a Musivate workshop, go to http://www.musivate.co.uk, or contact Lorraine's reception on 0203 151 3147. Don’t forget to check out the Musivate Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/musivate and Twitter @musivate.