{"id":538,"date":"2013-08-16T17:40:32","date_gmt":"2013-08-16T17:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.workplaceinteractors.com\/theinteraction\/?p=538"},"modified":"2013-08-16T17:40:32","modified_gmt":"2013-08-16T17:40:32","slug":"11-ways-trainers-can-create-terrific-role-plays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.workplaceinteractors.com\/theinteraction\/2013\/08\/16\/11-ways-trainers-can-create-terrific-role-plays\/","title":{"rendered":"11 ways trainers can create terrific role plays"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently, I had some exciting conversations with people who are trying to create more valuable role plays within their organizations. \u00a0Talking with them reminded me of this article I wrote for the ASTD magazine\u00a0Training Today<\/strong> a few years back. \u00a0It’s a compilation of many things Dan and I have learned over our years of creating interactive learning, adapted for trainers who don’t have professional actors to work with, as we do. \u00a0I’m reposting the article with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"SAMSUNG\"<\/a><\/p>\n

You know that role plays are a wonderful tool for turning theory into practice.\u00a0 They can answer that crucial question, \u201cHow does this apply to me?\u201d\u00a0 By giving learners a chance to try out new behaviors in a controlled setting, they can jump-start the application of new learning back on the job.\u00a0 They get people out of their chairs\u00a0and into action.<\/p>\n

So why do so many learners hate role plays?\u00a0 You’ve seen it happen:\u00a0 participants groan when a role play is announced.\u00a0 You can\u2019t get a volunteer, so you have to force someone to come up.\u00a0 The role players are too easy on each other, or they give up too soon \u2013 or they just undermine the whole exercise with joking or hostility.\u00a0 What\u2019s going on here?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s simple:\u00a0 they\u2019re afraid they\u2019re going to make fools of themselves.\u00a0 As a trainer, you know that most people get anxious when they have to get up in front of a group.\u00a0 They\u2019re afraid they\u2019ll be judged.\u00a0 When that group consists of their peers and co-workers, it feels even riskier.\u00a0 And when they\u2019re not sure what they\u2019re supposed to be doing, that anxiety goes sky-high.<\/p>\n

You can reduce the risk of role plays. \u00a0You can’t take away people’s performance anxiety, but you can minimize it through the way you design, set up, and facilitate role plays. \u00a0You can create an atmosphere of humor and experimentation, and you can ensure success for all participants – no matter what mistakes they make.<\/p>\n

Here are 11 ways to make role plays work for you. \u00a0We’ve divided these tips into the three phases of creating a role play: \u00a0Design (how you structure the exercise), Instructions (how you explain the exercise to participants), and Facilitation (how you work with the role players as the exercise is taking place).<\/p>\n

Design:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  1. Be specific.\u00a0<\/strong> Most role plays fail because they\u2019re too general, and people don\u2019t know what to do.\u00a0 Choose the circumstances of the role play carefully.\u00a0 Fill in lots of detail.\u00a0 For example, if it\u2019s a customer-service training, don\u2019t just ask someone to play a complaining customer.\u00a0 Tell the role-players exactly what the issue is:\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re a credit-card customer who asked last month to have an erroneous charge removed from her bill.\u00a0 You just got the new bill, and the charge is still there.\u201d And to the person playing the customer service rep:\u00a0 \u201cTwo people are out sick, and you\u2019re covering for them, even though you should have gone to lunch a half-hour ago.\u00a0 The last person you talked to hung up on you.\u201d\u00a0 This level of detail helps role players believe in the action.\u00a0 They\u2019re less likely to be distracted by their own nerves or by others\u2019 reactions.<\/li>\n
  2. Make the role play situation important to the characters.<\/strong>\u00a0 The stakes should be high.\u00a0 (For example, a valuable employee is ready to quit because his manager never recognizes his achievements.\u00a0 The manager already has been warned by her boss about too much turnover in her department.)\u00a0 When the outcome is important to the characters, the exercise has more energy and interest for the role players and for those watching.<\/li>\n
  3. Target the learning points.<\/strong>\u00a0 Make sure the situation you choose will make the role players deal with the behavior you want to teach.\u00a0 Because new learning feels uncomfortable, most role players will try to avoid acting it out.\u00a0 Close the escape hatches by picking a situation that must be solved by putting the learning points into practice.<\/li>\n
  4. Focus on a small, important piece of behavior.<\/strong>\u00a0 Don\u2019t try to do too much in a single role play.\u00a0 If you\u2019re training people in a process, work it section by section (for example, in sales training, focus on establishing rapport, then on asking probing questions, etc. \u2013 perhaps with different participants playing the salesman in each section).<\/li>\n
  5. Don\u2019t be afraid of \u201cnegative models.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong> You can inject a lot of humor \u2013 and learning \u2013 into a workshop by asking people to \u201cdo everything wrong.\u201d\u00a0 For example, in the customer service situation, ask the person playing the rep to come up with three bad ways to handle the complaining customer (such as sounding bored, using sarcasm, and shouting at her), and then let the participants discuss why those approaches didn\u2019t work \u2013 the consequences of not using the new learning.\u00a0 You can generate a lot of energy with this exercise, and the humor helps break the ice for further role playing.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Instructions:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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    1. Take role players off the hook.<\/strong>\u00a0 Tell them, \u201cYou\u2019re not you in this role play, you\u2019re somebody else just like you.\u201d\u00a0 Refer to the character by another name, not the role player\u2019s name.\u00a0 Creating distance between the character and the self means participants don\u2019t have to own any errors they make \u2013 they\u2019re not really \u201ctheir\u201d mistakes.\u00a0 Sometimes it helps to set role plays at a fictional company similar to the real one.<\/li>\n
    2. Strive for a better \u2013 not a perfect \u2013 interaction.\u00a0<\/strong> Let participants know that you\u2019ll applaud any success, even a small one.<\/li>\n
    3. Bring a sense of fun to the exercise.<\/strong>\u00a0 Keep it light.\u00a0 People learn better through humor, liveliness and enjoyment.<\/li>\n
    4. Share the risk.<\/strong>\u00a0 Let role players work in teams, sharing solutions and coaching each other.\u00a0 Have the team come up to the front, so the person who is actually doing the role play can turn to his team for advice.\u00a0 Have team members replace each other in the role play, as in tag-team wrestling, so no one has to do the entire exercise by himself.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Facilitation:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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      1. Applaud.<\/strong>\u00a0 Praise and validate the role players\u2019 work.\u00a0 Thank them for their contribution.\u00a0 Point out where they used the learning points and how it led to a successful outcome.\u00a0 Applaud them for taking the risk of role playing.<\/li>\n
      2. \u00a0When \u201cfailures\u201d happen, focus on the process rather than the person.<\/strong>\u00a0 When role players don\u2019t follow the learning points, say (for example), \u201cWell, that certainly put him in his place.\u00a0 What might be some of the drawbacks to handling it that way?\u201d\u00a0 Discuss the behaviors.\u00a0 Have the role players try the same situation again, with suggestions from other participants.\u00a0 Thank the role players for providing good material for discussion.\u00a0 After all, the whole group will learn from things that don\u2019t work out, as well as from those that do.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Role plays can be a great teaching tool, with your help.\u00a0 You can design, introduce and facilitate them so learners<\/p>\n