Québec: The African djembe punctuates the business world

The traditional African djembe is making an astonishing breakthrough in Québec’s business world where it has become a tool for team cohesion within large and middle size companies.

The scene is somewhat surreal: ten or so consultants from a governmental agency, most of them dressed in the traditional suit and tie, are gathered in one of Montréal's sumptuous banquet hall. Sitting straddled on their chair holding an... African djembe between their legs.

For most of them, it's their first contact with this chalice shaped drum from West Africa. The usual speeches and head searching is quite far from this seminar day. Everything takes place in the belly and in the arms when the consultants beat the rhythm learned a few minutes earlier. One of them readily gets it and quickly ties his necktie around his head. For their 200 colleagues coming in for dinner, the surprise his total. First a drum solo from their boss, then it’s their turn to get an instrument.

Pam-Pam-Pam-Poum-Pam ! “You have one hour to learn the rhythms. Can you make it? Raise your hand those who don't believe they can", calls out Louis Bellemare, from the Samajam percussion school, who yearly leads tens of Team building sessions, a tool increasingly popular in Québec for ensuring team cohesion in large and middle size firms. If some hands go up, he reminds the organization’s mission and values, previously set by management.

Without any fuss, some bosses find the exercise revealing. Martial Vincent, vice president of a television company, recently participated in a session. "Those who failed to join the team during the day had left the enterprise shortly afterwards, said he. It had allowed us to detect those who really showed solidarity." Born in the 70s in North America, Team Building consists in regrouping co-workers and giving them a common challenge, in sports, games, technical or artistic.

Rediscovering the pleasure of being together

The objective is to get the employees to share a common goal: the enterprise's success. Louis Bellemare briskly leads such interventions many times a week. The groups range from twelve or so employees to two thousand in large enterprises. Its that, SME just like large enterprises wish to improve communication, performance, their employees leadership or to strengthen team spirit. Tens of enterprises such as Bank of Montréal, Cirque du Soleil or Caisses DesJardins have become initiated to the Mandiguian's drum secrets. In this era of communication, the employees paradoxically have never been so isolated, spending their days glued to their computer, often with earphones on.

The collective experience of the percussion would bring them back, on a symbolic level, with the spirit of the clan: "We have lost the sense of the tribe, said the founder of Samajam. At work, people put on a mask. With the drum, they find back a sense of being together. During the intervention, they go back to the basics, to being together to succeed and create something. " To work on a specific problem, such as the transfer of knowledge, participants are divided into two groups and learn different rhythms

And then the “Joiners musicians group”

Group A transmits what it has learned to group B, and vice versa. Danielle Naud, corporate vice president at Armoires Cuisines Action, a hundred or so employees enterprise, as thus transformed her carpenters, deliveryman and installers into musicians, during a day. After experimenting "chaos", the employees had to define a common goal and adopt each an instrument. Mrs. Naud explains: "The exercises allowed them to work time management, stress control, decision-making capacities". Succeeding together in what seemed an impossible challenge early in the day, putting up a show, really helped us to consolidate team spirit.

The experience has left traces, as internal conflicts are now settled... with sounding drum rolls. Vincent Sabourin, a Strategy business professor at Université du Québec in Montréal, refrains from beating the drum, having reservations on this activity. "If the boss shows an interest in his employees through an activity such as this, it can create positive vibrations and increase productivity. But there is a limit to that. A nice boss does not necessarily improve the long-term effectiveness of his enterprise by this mean.

Very far from rhythms associated with traditional African life, djembe has nevertheless found a new utilitarian vocation in America. Cheikh Anta Faye, a percussionist recently arrived from Senegal and leading Djembe sessions, believes that the exercise is conclusive: "Here, people are more individualistic. But at the end of the intervention they talk to each other, they are happy. This can be of help in their work."

Sidwaya
Tuesday, June 26, 2007