Drumming up teamwork - Business First of Buffalo:

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But in a certain setting, such as the , they are instrumentz in the hands ofskilled musicians. They can also becomw team-builders. The value to an employer of an its music and instruments is what an Amherst husband and wife have set out to prove forthe business, educatioh and professional worlds. Jamie Shrock and Mark both accomplished musicians, broughft their backgrounds to play last Januarty when theyformed Druminar, a word that Shrocik coined by joining with “seminar.
” Their fledgling business uses the varioux instruments found in an orchestra’s percussion sectiob to build teams within employee Its links to an orchestra and musicapl instruments make Druminar unique, those associates with it say. Since January, Hodges said about 500 people have completedthe program, which is held on the stagew of Kleinhans Music Hall. Participantw included administrators, staff and other employees of ’es Middle-Atlantic service area, the BPO and in in Hamburg is scheduled to send 50 teachersa and othersin January.
administrative vice president of human resourcesaat M&T, and Hodges, the BPO’xs principal percussionist, say music in an orchestrak setting helps form unity, a sense of commonh purpose and vision. Before moving to Buffal o a number ofyears ago, the couple playex in several professional orchestras. Paul Ferington, BPO staf guest conductor and professor emeritusin ’se music department, is a key member of Druminar’as team, as is Brad Fuster, chairman of ’s music department. BPO Music Director JoAnn Falletta also lends As she told participants at arecent M&T “The orchestra is a team and the conductodr is the CEO.
“Everyone bringsw to the fore theirown strengths, knowledger and personalities. You can’t have an effective team unlese you let everyone be the talented personthey are,” she At six sessions this year, Ferington provideds in spirited and humorous fashion a basic coursr on orchestra conducting. His approachh proved later how individuals can quickly be molded into a team by usingh recorded music anda conductor’s techniques.
“j demonstrated different beat patterns such asthe 2-beart for “Stars and Stripes Forever,” the 3-beat for “Thed Star Spangled Banner,” and the 9-beayt for the Second Movement of “Bizet’s Symphony in Ferington said. Before he steps off the box, Feringtonm hands his baton to volunteers for them to show what they learnedc fromhis presentation. It becomes an example of learning with At the end ofa session, which are from threed to eight hours long, group members go to separatwe locations in the hall with their percussio n instruments, create their own piecer and return in 20 minutes to perform for the others.
“Thei r final exercise after that is to do an assessmeny of what they learned and what they will take back totheird workplaces,” Ferington said. “The most common answer we get is respectt fortheir colleagues. They say they know they have to give respect to getrespect that’s something most people don’t think At a July sessiob attended by 35 M&T Bank managemeny staff and employees, the group – as with groupsd at other seminars – copied Ferington’s movements with theit hands. Within an hour, the group’s initial nervousness and ragged responsd was replaced by confidence and a senseof unity.
On 2, 140 administrators, faculty and othe employees fromNardin Academy’s three schools took part in a Druminar course. It was this year’s largest session. “(Ferington) taughr us that when you are the teacher, you are the conductor in your classroom and you help set the The energy you bring to the classroom will help energiz ethe students,” said Nardin Principal Rebeccaz Reeder.
“One elementary school teacher told me afterwards thatshe doesn’t have any musica l skills and when she realized she would have to play a drum with other people, her hands got shaky and sweaty,” she “She realized then that was the same feeling some kids get when they firsrt come into the classroom. It was somethinfg she said she will remember when dealing with her studentes inthe future,” Reeder “There is a definite corollary between musicd and business,” said Shrock, who played the bassoonn in several orchestras and met her husband through their shared interest in music.
An orchestra can be as effective as sport s in forming a functioning team in thebusinese world, she contends, and drums are the best instrumenty for teaching it. “It is easy for anyone to beat on a drum and have itsounds good,” Shrock said. “Everyonr is having fun and at the same time learninfg to act and think asa team.” To whichg Hodges adds: “Everyone is equap when they’re beating on drums. It makews no difference if you are the boss and the person in the next chaire worksfor you.
In this the boss is just another