Are Role Play Exercises Futile?

For many, the idea itself is scary. Why does this highly acclaimed training tool fail to produce the intended learning and development?

Participants cite the discomfort with the idea of ‘acting’ as a common reason. Most do not see themselves as performers and as soon as they hear the words ‘role play’, it reminds them of a school play, only this time, it’s at the office! To add to their fear is the prospect of acting in front of their peers. No wonder you hear groans from the training participants when it’s time to role play.

Even when role-playing scenarios are played out, they often don’t work due to several reasons. It’s difficult to see the colleague you work with every day as an irate customer or unreasonable boss. Scenarios look fake when your cheerful bestie at work plays a fiery, strict boss, who doesn’t care about his team. This combination of disbelief and discomfort often renders these exercises futile, even counterproductive as they may add to your staff’s fears of experiential training sessions.

Does that mean we should go back to the era of traditional, PowerPoint training?

No.

Imagine another scenario where an experienced training professional takes time to understand the dynamics within a team or company. Based on their understanding and inputs from the HR or L&D teams, the trainer creates case studies or scenarios with real underlying dynamics that highlight the deficiencies or growth areas to be targeted.

Now imagine the impact if you have professional role-play actors in the mix.

Professional actors are skilled in playing different roles and scenarios. They can easily challenge and guide the participants about ‘what should/canbe’ in a specific scenario. The scenarios are played out in pairs or small groups. A professional actor is assigned to each group. Trained actors and experienced trainers facilitate the learning process, helping the participants become comfortable. The good thing about bringing in actors is that the participants can be themselves as they deal with the scenario presented by the actor. This helps them re-visit the situation, rehearse and try different approaches to the same situation.

Role play is certainly an effective training tool. The only requisite is to have professional actors portray different characters authentically and communicate effectively with the participants.

Another advantage of role play by actors is participants are more open to their constructive feedback compared to someone else from within the same organization. There may be too much history and underlying dynamics with a peer or manager. Participants often find that unbiased, positive feedback from a professional actor is a powerful learning tool in the process.

University education and conventional training only inculcate the learning of theory and process. Nothing prepares your staff to be empathetic, communicate effectively, listen carefully and think out of the box. By working with a professional role-play actor, they can develop these skills extremely effectively.

If you’d like to know more about how corporate actors can enhance your workplace training check out Role Play training by Peers and Players.