Welcome to our Video Diary: View From Here
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Please select the video diary category to the right and you will then see a chronological
list of our
musings, monologues and experiences displayed below... |
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Fear of Roleplay!
21/05/2008 17:03:47
Roleplay is an excellent tool organisations can exploit to measure and build upon their employees’ communication skills. Whether recruiting for sales reps, managers, coaches, leaders, doctors, lawyers – a well designed and delivered roleplay is an excellent way to pinpoint an individual’s strengths and weaknesses relative to the role.
One of the challenges I face as a roleplayer is the most common of all – the delegate’s Fear of Roleplay! The stakes can be high, particularly in the case of assessment centres. On several occasions, I have been referred to as Mr. “Come in Mr Smith!” they say – no issues about political correctness here – it’s just that, well, they have been told that I’m female before the meeting, and despite the occasional pair of trousers, quite clearly, I am. No prizes for guessing that another common sign of nerves is excessive talking – or the opposite – not knowing what to say. Aggression can be a sign of stress too. The thing is, there are many ways that stress manifests itself, we all react differently to different situations.
The job of a roleplayer is to facilitate the roleplay effectively. The delegate must have a proper and fair opportunity to demonstrate their skills, and the organisation needs enough evidence to accurately assess the delegate’s ability. This is achieved by carefully managing the mix of challenge and support, whilst delivering an authentic scenario. Whilst all candidates experience a rush of adrenalin, some will suffer from an unhelpful amount of nerves which if allowed to, will have a negative effect on their performance.
For me as roleplayer, each scenario is a bit like driving a car that I’m not used to. I’m thinking, how hard can I push? Too much anxiety right now. I need to take my foot off the accelerator a bit, let them get comfortable. OK, they’re more relaxed now. Let’s try and take it up a gear. Yes, they are listening well. Can they deal with this new information? Not responding. Back off. I’ll come back to it again later. Are they picking up on my non-verbal clues? Yes! Good. Now they’re really beginning to work well with the content. I can push a little harder now. Let’s try the new information again. Ahah, they’ve got it. They’re using it to build their response. This is working. But what about this point – will they agree with me or challenge me? Can I push harder still? Strong response….
Roleplay, whatever the content, is an intense experience (both for the delegate, and the roleplayer!). It requires total concentration – mind, heart and body. It should be a positive experience for the delegate and for the organisation. Even if the exercise itself proves unsuccessful, a responsible organisation will always ensure that the delegate is supported by being offered constructive feedback about what they achieved well, and where they need to focus their development.
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Marriage Makeover
16/05/2008 18:18:33
We work with clients to help them find different and creative ways of getting a point across.
We have just had the pleasure of working with Marriage Makeover (www.marriagemakeover.co.uk). They work with couples who are facing difficult issues in their relationship with a view to finding ways to resolve them.
Their product, I think, is unique.
They asked us to do a series of video and audio clips to sit alongside their marketing literature to get their message across.
Click on the video to see one of them in action!
We love Marriage Makeover's approach to working with couples. First and formost, they get right down to the facts. They refer to it as Get Real - and as we are also focused on Getting Real (we've designed a whole series of products under the brand name, The Real Way), this made absolute sense to us. Once the facts are known, then Marriage Makeover can start to deal with the emotions. It's a clever model designed by the founders of Marriage Makeover, and it works. Their mix of expertise (he's an accountant, she's a family lawyer) and their open and honest personalities bring light and hope at the end of an otherwise increasingly dark tunnel.
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A Day in the Life of a Roleplayer
01/05/2008 13:51:38
Hi, I’m Lucy Windsor, Partner in The Performance Business, offering roleplay services to businesses.
Last Tuesday morning, as we ended our roleplay scenario, tears wiped away and remedy found, I looked around the room, and we all began to laugh. After an intense session, laughter is often the first reaction, as it relieves the pressure and brushes aside any embarrassment people feel.
“How did you do that?!” Tim asked me.
“I saw your nose turn red, and I just knew you were going to cry.” said Jane.
“That was unbelievably difficult to deal with.” said Susan.
In fact, Susan had handled a sensitive situation extremely effectively. The outcome had been positive for all concerned.
Not all our work is as intense as that and the subject matter won’t necessarily provoke tears from the roleplayer. Whether the scenario be emotionally demanding, professionally challenging, or both, we represent real life.
The working day is generally filled with all sorts of communication between people. As roleplayers, we have to be able to represent every situation as if it were really happening.
If everyone thought the same, it would be easy to have your voice heard, and to be understood. The challenge, as well as the joy, is that everyone is different. You bring your own experience, perspective, character and personal situation to everything you do, and therefore any number of factors are at play at any one time.
This is why roleplay forms such a powerful tool for organisations to employ as part of their assessment and development portfolio.
Think back to the scenario I described earlier - a business dialogue between a manager and an employee – Susan had been briefed that my character had been regularly turning up late for work. She found it a challenging exercise – not least because her “employee” quietly and unexpectedly unravelled in front of her - she handled the situation professionally and with just the right amount of sensitivity. I’ve been there many times before in my line of work, and I can tell you that I have been on the receiving end of rather less effective methods!
If you were being managed, wouldn’t you want your manager to know just what makes you tick, and how to get the very best out of you?
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