Successful role plays require meaningful and relevant characters, skillful facilitators, the participants ability to play the roles, observer involvement, and an effective debriefing process.

Role plays can be prewritten, part of a video clip, impromptu, or created specifically for training. Role play as a pedagogy is usually used in training programs involving interpersonal skills in general organizational settings such as communication, sales, performance appraisal, counseling, mentoring, team building, and leadership. They also are used in specific settings, such as healthcare and social services, where participants take on the roles of workers, clients, and others in those settings.

Why it works

Role plays allow participants to experience the role and what the role entails. They also provide a safe environment for learners to experience and express the feelings and opinions about the roles covered by the training program.

Guidelines

There are two ways you can approach role plays. You can design it so that all participants are assigned to two- or three-person groups, with everyone doing the role plays. Or you can develop a script that calls for two or three volunteers to do the role play, while the remaining learners serve as observers. Here are steps to follow for creating the role play.

Do background research. Gather data from HR and line managers on participant needs and the specific job roles of participants. This ensures that the context of the role play becomes relevant for the participants and that they are comfortable with the setting.

Script the role play. The role play must be scripted well and without ambiguity. Role plays usually are scripted for two or three characters.

Script the general context. That includes the organizational chart and reporting relationships, as well as where the players fit into the chart. Provide the background information about the organization or department, and describe all the necessary details of the context in which the roles are going to be played out.

Script for specific characters. Create separate character scripts for each role. Describe the character and context of each role and the relevant issue that is to be played out.

Do not give exact dialogues in the role plays. This might lead to anxiety or stage fright for some. Additionally, the dialogues might not match the personality of your role players. The personalities of the participants need to show up in the role play. If you do give exact dialogues, instruct the participants to play the roles along the given lines, and inform them that they do not need to use the exact words.

Do not write a case study for a role play. I have seen facilitators write an entire story for a role play, and there is a great deal of ambiguity when participants are asked to perform a role play based on the script. Do not do this unless you want to create an impromptu role play out of the case study. However, be clear about how you want to go about the role play if it is impromptu. Otherwise it can become confusing and be a waste of time.

Facilitation guidelines

Facilitation can make or break a role- play session. Here are some pointers.

Choosing volunteers. Success of a role play to a great extent is based on the role players. At the beginning of the session, call for volunteers. Take care that the same outgoing person does not volunteer all the time. Occasionally, you may nominate a person to participate because of personality, role, experience, or any other suitable factor. In general, do not allow a boss and subordinate to volunteer in the same role playunless the goal of the session is for the participants to experience what its like to be in the others shoes. If a player is not effective, you may call on another volunteer to give participants a chance to compare the behaviors of different personalities in a given situation.

Preparing players for role play. Give out the role-play context and the specific role script to each individual. Do not allow players to see the other players scripts. Allow volunteers 10 to 15 minutes to read and understand the roles. Answer their questions and make them comfortable.

Preparing the observers. While the players are reviewing their scripts, go over the scripts with the observers. Give out observation sheets, which will bring attention to the relevant issues in the role play.

Setting for the role play. Ensure that everyone can see and hear the role players.

Facilitating and debriefing. Monitor the role play, players, and observersand take notes. Do not interrupt the role play unless necessary. Time the role play, and give a signal to players three to five minutes before the end. Thank the players for volunteering.

After the role play ends, discuss the experience of the players and observers, and draw parallels to the organizational reality. Ask observers what they would do in the place of the players. Discuss the takeaways from the session and the feelings of both the players and observers. For any internalization to happen, discussion at an emotion level becomes important. Do not leave any issue unresolved.

Results

Role plays are successful if they mirror the organizational reality and setting, and participants relate to it emotionally. If a role play ends up just as entertainment for the participants, learning may be lost.