The benefits of Role-Play in Training
Anyone who has ever delivered training will be able to recall the look of shock coming from at least a few delegate's faces in the room after the suggestion of 'Role-Play' within the course. This is due to their fear of what they think a role-play is going to be when in reality it should be fun, informative and of course challenging.
Should it be something for them to be afraid of? Absolutely not!
There is no doubt that some people do find the prospect of role-playing daunting though and it is our job as trainers to ensure that we remove as much stress from the process as possible. Although we won't force delegates to participate, those who willingly get involved will take more from the course as a whole, and may even surprise themselves and enjoy it!
Doing it right!
At Maguire Training we found that using a third party such as a professional actor to help you with role-playing is much more preferable than using yourself or another delegate as the subject of, say, an appraisal interview. This provides a significant benefit to the whole process as it allows for a higher degree of objectivity. Plus removing the temptation for delegates to be mean to each other, or indeed, too easy on each other because they are next!
If it is at all possible, videoing your role-plays is also of great benefit. Delegates find it much easier to understand where they went wrong (and right) if they can actually see themselves doing it. Also, it’s easy to develop favourite words or phrases that we can use incessantly with the person being cognisant of the fact and it can be quite revealing for delegates when they can see themselves in a video ending every sentence with ‘ok’ or ‘right’ for example.
Making it feel real
Again, it is always advisable to use scenarios in role-plays that are as close to the real world as possible. This will help to build confidence in situations that are familiar and they are less likely to be as intimidating when and if they do come across a certain situation. It will create a memory that they have come across this situation or something similar to it before, even if it was only in a role-play scenario, making delegates feel more confident and prepared.
Overall the whole exercise is designed to help build the delegate’s confidence, skill and ability in handling a variety of situations back in the workplace. It will also undoubtedly help them with their general level of communication skills as well as provide an opportunity to explore areas such as non-verbal communication and the use of language.
All we can do is anticipate the various challenges and opportunities that we may face and practise, practise, practise as much as possible in a safe, controlled and positive environment.
This will help your delegates, for example, be far better prepared for the unexpected than those who have not had the benefit of experiencing various problems and challenges that will come to test them, even if it was in what are, admittedly, somewhat contrived conditions.
How can we help?
At Maguire Training, not only do we offer classroom-based courses and programmes, but we are also proud to offer a versatile and intuitive suite of over 190 eLearning modules on our website, which covers a range of topics. Including our Train the Trainer Training Course, where delegates experienced and new will learn essential training skills.
Contact us
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to get in contact with us:
Phone: 0333 5777 144
Email: info@maguiretraining.co.uk
Or, simply fill in the ‘Contact Us’ form on any page of our website.
