Orchestrating the office
Management 'druminars' teach the value of the ensemble
It takes a lot of skills to become a bank manager. Conducting a symphony by Johanne Brahms is not usually one of them.
Which is why the M&T Bank managers-in-training gathered one morning on stage at Kleinhans Music Hall may have thought they were dreaming.
Brahms' noble, romantic First Symphony is billowing from speakers. The bankers, all in their 20s and 30s, are waving batons to the beat under the watchful eye of Maestro Paul Ferington. Ferington, who frequently conducts the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, has just taught them how to deal with three-quarter time, four-fourth time, six-eighth time, even nine-eighth time.
"Nine-eighth is not a beat you often encounter," he says. "But you should be prepared."
The bankers hold the batons in their right hands, as Ferington instructs. With the left, they cue the various instruments.
Down. Left. Right. Up.
It's all in the name of making them better managers, says Jamie Shrock of M&T's human resources department.
Shrock, who used to play the bassoon professionally, is married to BPO percussionist Mark Hodges. They met in her bassoon days, at a music festival in the Grand Tetons.
In her current banking job, she was struck by the connections between banking and music. It occurred to her that a bit of music performance could make the difference between a mediocre manager and a good one.
She and Hodges came up with the concept of the Druminar, a way to introduce the business people to the lessons that can be learned through music — leadership, communication and teamwork, for instance. Ferington, who is extensively involved in BPO education efforts, stepped forward to assist.
What does Brahms have to do with banking? Plenty, Ferington says.
"As supervisors and managers, they are conductors of their unit."
Into Falletta's shoes
This is the golden age of thinking outside the box. Corporate workshops have been pegged to theater, comedy, sports and all kinds of other activities. Galleries, including the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, have played host to workshops that link the business world to visual art.
The Druminars, too, are catching on as a form of creative thinking. M&T Bank will shortly be holding another session, and November brings a workshop with Buffalo State College students. Druminars for students grades 3 to 12 are being developed through the BPO's education department, to run in conjunction with education concerts.
Though the Druminar involves a heavy dose of conducting, the seminar lives up to its name with a loud and lengthy drumming session. Led by Hodges, an energetic guy with a shaved head, the bankers sit in a semi-circle. Equipped with a variety of drums and percussion instruments, they follow his lead, re-creating rhythmic patterns.
After a few drum exercises, a few bankers volunteer to ascend the podium and conduct their peers in a kind of symphony of percussion. Mercy An, of M&T's Snyder branch, was thrilled to step into the JoAnn Falletta role.
"It gives you a different perspective," she says.
There are lots of laughs along with the learning. The funniest interlude arrives when Ferington, demonstrating conducting, purposely bungles the job.
"This is my favorite part," laughs Hodges. "You get to see Paul Ferington conducting badly. He had to practice for so long! At first he couldn't do it."
Ferington, standing with a mock hangdog expression, eyes the band balefully. He gives a sullen downbeat, then stops.
"That was awful," he says. He shakes his head. "Awful."
Another half-hearted downbeat produces another desultory result. Ferington checks his watch. His cell phone rings and he answers it.
"Hello," he says. "I'm with this bunch from M&T." He rolls his eyes. "They have no clue."
Who knew Ferington could be such a comedian? But the skit has a point. Ferington is illustrating not only bad conducting, but bad management.
Reverting to his true self, he goes on to demonstrate correct conducting, leading the group through a variety of rhythms.
"Unless you can give respect, you won't have respect," he says. "You gave me a good performance because you felt good about what you were doing."
Going, going, gong
Drum drills follow, with the bankers taking cues from Hodges and each other.
When a group ringing cowbells parades into the lobby, it takes longer for the group on stage to respond to their rhythms. This exercise hints at the problems distance can create.
"Does anyone here deal with workers in India?" Shrock asks.
Leadership issues emerge when the bankers are split into three groups. Each group has 10 minutes to come up with a percussion piece, and perform it.
One group, which calls itself Movers and Shakers, is assigned the stage as its rehearsal space. Distracted, overwhelmed, the bankers joke around nervously. One of them wanders over to a gong and strikes it, sending echoes through the hall.
The lesson this group learns? Don't waste time.
"You might have tight deadlines, but the audience does not care about that. Neither do your customers," Ferington says.
No group, of course, is perfect.
One young man reflects after the performance: "I think we were all Type A's in our group. We're so worried about other people's parts that we don't think about our own."
Jill Endres, who works in Alternative Thinking in the M&T main office, relates that to the banking world: "It's so easy to get involved in your own department, and forget about working together."
When the half-day workshop ends, the participants will, with luck, return to their offices with new wisdom. And the Druminar offers a fringe benefit, too.
It could awaken, or reawaken, a love for music.
One session, Shrock recalls, took place just before a BPO open rehearsal. "Almost everyone came back to Kleinhans and went to the rehearsal."
Ferington laughs, remembering how when the Philharmonic played a lunchtime concert at M&T Plaza, former Druminar attendees went crazy with enthusiasm. "They were watching from the windows, coming down to see us," he says.
Kleinhans itself can be an inspiration. Hodges says, "Sometimes people tell me, 'It's always been my dream to play on the stage of Kleinhans Music Hall.'‚"
The Druminar fulfills that dream, sometimes with unexpected results.
Endres is a case in point. She enjoyed the Druminar. "It's a good example for teamwork and leadership," she says.
But she is also thinking of dusting off her flute, neglected long ago. It turns out she studied flute at Eastman School of Music in Rochester, and now would like to pick it back up.
"I played here for high school graduation," she says, looking wide-eyed around Kleinhans. "It's good to be back."
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