Role – Playing

Tool/Technique	Role – Playing
Purpose (goal):	In role-playing, two or more people are playing roles in a script remain with the training topic. By acting scenarios, you can explore how other people are likely to respond to different approaches; and you can get a feel for approaches that are likely to work, and for those that might be counter-productive. You can also get a sense of what other people are likely to be thinking and feeling in the situation.
Description / instruction:	It is easy to set up and run a role-playing session. It will help to follow the five steps below. Step 1: Identify the Situation To start the process, gather people together, introduce the problem, and encourage an open discussion to uncover all of the relevant issues. This will help people to start thinking about the problem before the role-play begins. If you’re in a group and people are unfamiliar with each other, consider doing some icebreaker exercises beforehand. Step 2: Add Details Next, set up a scenario in enough detail for it to feel “real.” Make sure that everyone is clear about the problem that you’re trying to work through, and that they know what you want to achieve by the end of the session. Step 3: Assign Roles Once you’ve set the scene, identify the various fictional characters involved in the scenario. Some of these may be people who have to deal with the situation when it actually happens (for example, salespeople). Others will represent people who are supportive or hostile, depending on the scenario (for example, an angry client). Once you’ve identified these roles, allocate them to the people involved in your exercise; they should use their imagination to put themselves inside the minds of the people that they’re representing. This involves trying to understand their perspectives, goals, motivations, and feelings when they enter the situation. (You may find the Perceptual Positions technique useful here.) Step 4: Act Out the Scenario Each person can then assume their role, and act out the situation, trying different approaches where necessary. It can be useful if the scenarios build up in intensity. For instance, if the aim of your role-play is to practice a sales meeting, the person playing the role of the potential client could start as an ideal client, and, through a series of scenarios, could become increasingly hostile and difficult. You could then test and practice different approaches for handling situations, so that you can give participants experience in handling them. Step 5: Discuss What You Have Learned When you finish the role-play, discuss what you’ve learned, so that you or the people involved can learn from the experience.
Examples:	Activity: “Natives” and Europeans At the beginning, the leaders divided the participants into two groups that would be floated into two isolated communities inhabiting two nearby islands in the vast ocean. Leaders encourage participants to imagine that these communities are real members by describing the following situations: • For the first group: “You are representatives of the Bugu-bugu community, which has rich reserves of natural resources – mineral water, gold, oil, coal and diamonds. However, in this community, the economy is underdeveloped, the healthcare system is not working well, and education is poor, so there is a “booming” epidemic that is making more and more victims among the local population. You have very strict patriarchal notions and persistently refuse to accept and introduce the novelties in your life. You live together in separate tribes, and you have your own traditions and culture that you keep in jealous. It is obvious that your community has negative attitudes towards the neighboring community, considering that people are low in morality, perverse, malicious, extremely insidious and have no values other than money. To solve your problem, however, you need the help of the other community that is well advanced in medicine to save your people from the epidemic. “ • For the second group: “You are a representative of the” High technology “community that lives on an isolated island in the Pacific Ocean. Close to you is another island where the population is very behind yours. Your island community does not have a rich resource of natural resources, but has a well-developed medicine, rail and air transport, and machine building. The education system in your community is also very well developed. Economic prosperity contributes to the good quality of life of your fellow citizens. Local people think they live much better than neighbors, and consider their neighbors as “savages” – underdeveloped, limited and illiterate. You believe that they are extremely uncommon and do not maintain any contact with them. However, your oil resources have been depleted lately, and their supply from the Middle East will be extremely expensive, which will cause the whole economy to suffer and a general impoverishment of the population. Along with that, you have information that there is rich oil reserves in the Bugu-buju community. There are also rumors that there is an epidemic on the neighboring island that frightens people from “High technology”. Assessment: Leaders give the participants the following task: “Your goal is within 20 minutes to figure out how you will solve the problem in your community. Of course, you have to first decide whether to act or postpone the problem for later. If you decide to act, you need: • select 4 “delegates” who will represent you in front of the neighboring community; • Consider what you can offer and what you want from your neighbors. Then your four delegates will hold a 20-minute meeting with the representatives of the other community to discuss their decisions. “ During the preparations for the “negotiations”, the leaders observed the discussion in the two groups so they could then comment: • How do they reach a solution? • How do they assess their resources and problems? • What are their prejudices (positive and negative attitudes) towards the other community? • Are there statements that limit the discussion? • Are there people who are excluded from the discussion? In conducting the negotiations, Leaders can observe: • What is the approach chosen by the participants (“win-win”, “lose-win”, “win-lose”, “lose-lose”)? • What are the winning moves and which – the unsuccessful tactics in the negotiations? • What is the end result? • Is there a solution? • Are all possible resources used in the negotiations? • How do the observers feel and how – the delegates themselves? • If the Bugu-Bugu community agrees to give oil, at what price? • If the High Technology community tended to help with drugs, what did they want in return?
Pros:	– Stimulating and fun technique – Engages the group’s attention – Simulates the real world. – Allows participants to explore alternative approaches to situations. – Enables participants to see how others may feel / behave in a given situation
Cons:	– In most cases, it takes a long time to complete. – Participants can take a defensive position. – Major disagreements may arise, leading to polarization of the group. – Excessive immersion in the role is possible, leading to an emotional breakdown.
Tips:	To make role-playing less threatening, start with a demonstration. Hand two “actors” a prepared script, give them a few minutes to prepare, and have them act out the role-play in front of the rest of the group. This approach is more likely to succeed if you choose two outgoing people, or if you’re one of the actors in the demonstration. Another technique for helping people feel more comfortable is to allow them to coach you during the demonstration. For instance, if you’re playing the role of a customer service representative who’s dealing with an angry customer, people could suggest what you should do to make things right. In a role-playing game that is set effectively, both the actors and the audience are involved in the process. This involvement is often carried over into the subsequent discussion and enriches it.
Sources / resources	https://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/RolePlaying.htm