Role playing games and activities rules and tips

Free role playing games ideas and theory for employee training, motivation, team building and development Here are techniques, theory and ideas for designing and using your own role playing games, exercises and activities, and for using the free role playing games, exercises and activities available in this site (below and here). Role playing games, exercises and activities help build teams, develop employee motivation, improve communications and are fun - for corporate organi ations, groups of all sorts, and even children!s development. Role playing games, exercises and activities improve training, learning development, and liven up conferences and wor"shops. #his free article about role playing ideas and rules has been provided by $dward Harbour and %ill &onnic" of '() 'ssociates (*rama) +imited, a +ondon-based specialist consultancy using drama in learning and development. will help you design and use games and exercises for training sessions, meetings, wor"shops, seminars or conferences, for adults, young people and children, in wor", education or for clubs and social activities. Role playing games, exercises and activities can also enhance business pro,ects, giving specific business outputs and organi ational benefits. -e cannot accept responsibility for any liability which arises from the use of any of these free role playing ideas or games - please see the disclaimer notice below. 'lways ensure that you exercise caution and sensitivity when using any role playing games or activities which might disturb or upset people, and ta"e extra care when wor"ing with younger people and children. Effective use of role playing in learning and development Role playing has been around as a learning tool for a long time. -ithout defining it as such, many of us use role play as a basic tool of life. -henever we pro,ect into the future in a "ind of !what if! scenario we are indulging in a role play of some sort, we are pro,ecting ourselves into an imaginary situation where, though we cannot control the outcome, we can anticipate some or all of the conditions and !rehearse! our performance in order to influence the outcome. )uch of the time we are better for it. .y way of example, you might wish to spea" to your garage to raise the fact that they have still not cured the oil lea". .efore doing so you might well rehearse to yourself what you intend to say. #his would be a mini role play - we do it all the time because it helps. (n a learning environment role play can be a very flexible and effective tool. #he tenet !( hear and ( forget, ( see and ( remember, ( do and ( understand! is very applicable here. Role play is often used as a way of ma"ing sense of the theory, of gathering together concepts into a practical experience. 'nd yet, it often goes wrong. -hy/ .ecause li"e so many things which are simple on concept, it can become awfully complicated. (f used badly in a training environment the role play tool can be ineffective and sometimes even damaging. 0ne of the main complicating factors surrounding role play is the attitude or emotional state of the people ta"ing part. 1uite fran"ly, many people are nervous, even terrified, at the prospect of participating in a role play2 not surprising when you hear about some people!s unfortunate role play experiences. 3or the purpose of this article, role play is defined as an experience around a specific situation which contains two or more different viewpoints or perspectives. #he situation is usually written as a prepared brief and the different perspectives on the same situation are handed out to the different people who will come together to discuss the situation. $ach person will have a particular ob,ective, or ob,ectives they want to fulfil which may well be in conflict with their fellow role player or role players. (t is how each role player handles the situation that forms the basis of s"ills practice, assessment and development. #he situations will be realistic and relevant to the role players and the

most successful ones will be focused on developing a particular s"ill or s"ill set. (f you consider a musical analogy, each !player! is involved in the same !symphony! but has a different score - their perspective and ob,ective(s) - for their own !instrument! - themselves as individuals - their histories. 4o, how can we ta"e the fear out of the role play experience/ Here are some guidelines that you might li"e to thin" about when planning your next session. Role play objectives .e very clear about what you want people to get out of the role playing experience. )uddy thin"ing at the outset will result in muddy outcomes. &lear thin"ing and role play preparation result in clear outcomes. 're you assessing s"ills or are you developing them/ (f you are assessing people, they need to "now the competency level expected of them and the brief needs to have measurable outcomes. 5eople also need to trust that the role play will have the same level of challenge for them and their peers. 4o, don!t put people through an assessment role play until you "now they have reached a certain standard (through development activities and role plays). 're you giving everyone the same level of challenge, or are you flexing according to the level of s"ill demonstrated by each individual/ #he former is more recommended for assessment, the latter for development (see above). Role playing placement - where in the agenda? (n s"ills development programmes, trainers and facilitators often schedule a role play exercise at the end of a course, to gather in the learning, and to assess how well the participants have understood the training. +eaving it until last can cause !the dreaded role play! to loom large in people!s minds, causing a negative distraction throughout the course. 4o instead, introduce people to the role play experience gently by holding mini role plays earlier and throughout the training. #his serves a double purpose6 it de-mystifies the experience so that people become more comfortable with the idea of !performing! in public2 and, it more fairly shows role playing to be a very good tool for rehearsing life, which is its main function. #o illustrate the important value of role playing, here is a theatre analogy6 actors spend hours rehearsing a twenty minute scene. #hey do it again and again to get it right2 to get the behaviours and the relationships right, to ma"e sense of the scene and to understand the issues. #hey get feedbac" in the form of notes from the director, which they will immediately apply to the wor" in hand. #hey carry on in this way until it!s perfect and the scene becomes part of them. #his is not to suggest that people in learning and development situations should become actors and rehearse their life scenarios for hours on end, but the principle is the same. .e realistic in your ambitions for the role play. 3or instance, if you are teaching a complex behavioural model, brea" it down, rather than have people role play it in one huge chun". %ust as actors don!t rehearse a play in one huge lump, they brea" it down into (sometimes) tiny micro-units and rehearse until they really feel confident with each bit, so the same principles apply to any complex new s"ill to be learned. .eing over-ambitious causes people to lose confidence in themselves and in role playing as a tool. +i"e any tool, role playing must be used properly or it won!t wor". (f you don!t have time to eventually get the participants doing the whole thing properly, in depth, with plenty of rehearsal and revisiting, then ,ust do a part of it. Role play briefing

Role playing can become ineffective if people are unclear about what they are supposed to do. #he briefs for all sides of the role play should be unambiguous and totally in line with the ob,ectives. Here again, any muddy thin"ing will have consequences. .e clear about the purpose. (f you are assessing s"ills in a certain situation then the brief must reflect this. (f you are assessing or developing behaviour, "eep technicalities out of the brief. 7enerally, remove technical content except for the very basic information needed to particularise the culture. 0therwise, lots of technical detail provides a bolt hole for people who are s"illed or pre-occupied in technicalities, when they should be focusing on structure, or process or behaviour. #he exercise will "eep its point and value if it avoids technical distractions. Role playing briefs should contain enough information for both parties to engage in a believable and relevant conversation, which should be in line with the ob,ectives. 7ive as much detail as is necessary - too little and there won!t be enough to sustain a conversation, too much and people will be swamped with information, most of which they either won!t need or won!t remember. 'void giving people the tas" of role playing attitudes alone. (f you want somebody to role play an angry customer give them something to be angry about. .ehaviour, li"e acting, is all about specifics. (f you are angry with your garage about a specific oil lea" and their inability to cure it, there will have been a specific chain of events that has led to your pic"ing the phone up and complaining. (t is not a general anger at everything. Role players can forget this in the heat of the moment if given open licence to ,ust !be angry!2 there needs to be a reason for it. ' well written brief will help to "eep the role play focused and on trac". 'dequate preparation time may seem obvious, but it is often overloo"ed in the belief that it is best to get on with it. 5eople can be encouraged to share what they are trying to achieve with observers, so it becomes a shared, facilitative exercise rather than a battle - this will also defuse fear and tension. 'gain, sharing ob,ectives will help and not !spoil! the role play. (n developmental role play, the option can be given to press the pause button where people feel they are getting into difficulty. 'lthough building up a flow in a role play has advantages, it is not a scene from a #8 soap, it is a rehearsal tool. 'nd in rehearsals, people stop and start. 9o-one should be expected to give a !performance!. $mphasising this too will dissipate people!s fear and concern. Role play observation and feedback 'llow the other participants to observe the role play and give their comments afterwards. 0bservers are hugely beneficial to the participants! learning. How often in life do we get the opportunity to gain from such focused attention/ -e not only have our own response to the role play2 we can also benefit from our fellow role players! observations, and tutor!s point of view, and the feedbac" from the observers. 3or the observers, explain clearly what you want them to loo" out for. 'gain this should be in line with your ob,ectives. #he language of feedbac" is also very important. 3eedbac" should broadly follow 4)'R# principles (4pecific, )easurable, 'greed, Realistic, #ime-bound). Role play feedbac" should describe specific things that the observer saw and heard, relevant to the exercise and to the person(s) doing the role playing. Role play feedbac" should not contain sub,ective ,udgements or comments based on personal "nowledge or assumptions. 3eedbac" should be meaningful and specific - something that the role player can act on. Role play feedbac" isn!t helpful if it suggests that the role player should !get a new personality! or !be nicer!. Remind participants that the purpose of the role play is for the development of the person or people doing the role play. 0b,ectivity facilitates learning. #he order of feedbac" should be participant or participants first (that way it!s untainted by others!

views2 it also recruits them into their own learning experience - people !buy in! more if they are themselves expressing what happened and why). (f others give feedbac" and participant(s), wait till the end, they may feel they!ve been bombarded by a lot of !tell!, without initial space to compose their expression of what it was li"e to be inside the experience. (t!s best to hear from them without the pressure of someone else!s views first which may then colour their own. (t!s worth as"ing what went well for them and why. (f there are professional role players involved, the role player(s) can ma"e their comments after the participant and observers have expressed their observations. (t often happens organically anyway (once you have set it up) that once the participant has formulated out loud what happened for them, the observers will start to offer their feedbac" and in the process will include the professional role player. (t is important though that the (non-professional role player) person or persons involved in the role play go first. Role play rules are basically simple6 role plays must be focused2 the ob,ectives must be clear and understood2 instructions must be clear and understood2 feedbac" needs to be specific, relevant, achievable and given immediately. &rucial to learning and developing options of behaviour "nowing what wor"s, what doesn!t wor", the range of behaviour available to an individual - is the opportunity to go bac" and have another go or several goes at bits of the role play and:or the whole role play. #his flexibility needs ,udging and managing on each occasion, so as to provide a more comfortable experience, and to double the learning value. 'side from which, when you plan and run proper role play sessions, participants will often tell you they actually en,oyed the experience2 that they forgot it was a role play, and found it the most powerful learning they!ve ever experienced; #his free article is aimed to help non-professional role play trainers and facilitators (ie., those without an acting bac"ground) to create and provide effective role playing for training and development, and includes the same principles that professional role play facilitators use in designing, writing, and delivering specialised role playing training activities. #his article is provided by $dward Harbour and %ill &onnic" of '() 'ssociates (*rama) +imited, a +ondon-based specialist consultancy using drama in learning and development, and its contribution is gratefully ac"nowledged. 5lease give similar ac"nowledgement when you use or pass on their methods. #he design, facilitation and training of role playing are at the core of '()!s expertise. (f you!d li"e more information or advice about role playing please contact them6 phone <== (>)?> @@?A @AB@, website6 www.aimass.com or email6 infoCaimass.com.