Active Listening: What Improvised Music Teaches About Team Communication – Jane Bentley

Full transcript and show notes: https://www.sharnafabiano.com/2026/07/29/active-listening-what-improvised-music-teaches-about-team-communication-jane-bentley/

How do groups create something meaningful when no one person knows exactly what will happen next? Dr. Jane Bentley’s research on drum circle improvisation reveals that effective collaboration depends on the same skills that help teams communicate: deep listening, responsiveness, and the ability to shift between leading and supporting in real time.

Jane Bentley is a percussionist, drum circle facilitator, and researcher based in Glasgow, Scotland. She completed a PhD on drum circle improvisation and facilitation, exploring how group music-making influences human wellbeing and reveals unique patterns of communication and shared influence. Her work includes long-term collaborations with mental health occupational therapy teams in the UK National Health Service, as well as programs with children, people in hospitals, prisons, and dementia care settings.

You’ll learn:

• How active listening improves teamwork and group communication 
• Why effective collaboration requires people to both contribute and adapt 
• What improvisational music reveals about shared leadership and decision-making 
• How groups create trust when there is no fixed plan or script 
• Why the ability to follow is essential for creating something new together 

Jane’s TEDx Talk
https://www.youtube.com/embed/MQo-1qlKUBE

 Connect with Jane Bentley 

https://artbeatmusic.org/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jane-bentley-a2550631/