Crossing four floors — RIGO Trading / Haribo

Why RIGO Trading / Haribo asked us in

The people worked in the same building and barely knew each other. Teams were spread across four floors, and connection across departments had quietly thinned to almost nothing — colleagues who needed to collaborate rarely crossed paths, and people hesitated to reach out for help across team lines.

The leadership team set a clear objective: get people seeing each other as allies rather than strangers on another floor, and build the psychological safety for them to speak up and ask for help. The 5 Guiding Principles of Applied Improv were the vehicle — a way to make connection feel available rather than awkward.

The themes that shaped the work:

• A physical divide. Four floors is enough to keep people apart without anyone intending it.
• Connection that had gone quiet. People knew collaboration mattered, and the habit of reaching out had faded.
• A practical, not academic, group. This was a group that would respond to doing, rather than to theory.

What we delivered

A keynote followed by four parallel experiential sessions, each led by an experienced IMPROV facilitator, deliberately mixing people from different departments and levels in each room. The day was grounded in the 5 Guiding Principles of IMPROV, and followed by a 30-day reinforcement programme for those who opted in — short prompts that turn the experience into habit over the four weeks after. Throughout, people practise the behaviours, notice what happens in themselves, and commit to one specific change to carry back to work.

What the participants told us

The numbers landed where they mattered most. Confidence to apply what they'd experienced came in at 5.55/7, and likelihood of reaching across departments — the leadership team's primary objective — at 5.53/7, with 87% scoring 5 or above on confidence. Ninety-seven per cent would recommend the experience, and two-thirds opted into the 30-day programme.

Which principles resonated most. Asked which of the five spoke to them most, the room pointed first at one that maps directly to psychological safety.

Principle named as most resonant	Mentions
Do Not Judge Others	12
Yes, And	11
Embrace Failure	8
Do Not Judge Yourself	7
Make Each Other Look Good	6

Do Not Judge Others leading is significant: participants independently named the exact behaviour the leadership team most wanted, and several linked it straight to safety — one wrote that it "creates a safe atmosphere where no one is afraid to share their thoughts and opinions."

The commitments converged on connection. Asked what they'd do differently, 39% named reaching across departments — the dominant theme, and one nobody was told to pick. It emerged from the experience itself, which is what makes it likely to stick.

What people noticed about themselves is where change starts, and the reflection ran deep for a group new to Applied Improv. People realised they judged more than they knew ("how easy it is to fall into the judgement of others and oneself"), discovered hidden confidence ("I was more comfortable to participate than I initially expected"), and named the gap between how they see themselves and how others see them. That last insight — someone realising their internal self-image doesn't match how colleagues experience them — is the foundation real behaviour change is built on.

In their own words

I'm going across all four floors and wishing everyone a good morning — to spread a good atmosphere and show that I'm there, approachable, and that my office is always open. — Anonymous respondent, on what they'll do differently

Schedule lunch dates every week with people I do not know yet. — Anonymous respondent

Listen first, before even formulating an input. — Anonymous respondent

Having fun and laughter together is connecting. — Anonymous respondent, on what they noticed

I will try not to say "but" the whole day — and see things more positively and constructively instead. — Anonymous respondent

What they committed to doing differently

Each respondent named one specific behaviour to change. The themes clustered tightly around connection:

• Reach across departments and connect with colleagues they don't yet know (the largest group).
• Ask a question and listen to the answer before turning to the work.
• Repair a specific working relationship, and give feedback to the task rather than the person.
• Bring "Yes, And" into conversations, and reach for the positive read first.

The most striking were the most specific — walking all four floors each morning, weekly lunches with new people, mending a particular disagreement. Specific commitments are the ones that predict follow-through.

Bring this to your organisation

Any organisation spread across floors, sites or departments faces a recognisable version of RIGO Trading's question: how to get people who should collaborate to actually connect, and feel safe enough to speak up when it counts. Our approach transfers directly — a keynote and experiential sessions that mix people deliberately, built on the 5 Guiding Principles, and a 30-day programme that turns a good day into lasting habit.

Source: anonymous post-training survey, March 2026, including a few responses received in the week after the training day.