What Is A Professional Role Player? And Why Would I Hire One? Part 2
A mini role play session as part of “Practice Those Pesky Conversations” at the AWE Women in Business Summit, March 2023.
I often hear that teams incorporate some element of role playing with their staff. It may happen during training, or if someone needs some some extra coaching or support. I usually ask who does the role playing with the staff, and I usually hear some version of, “Oh, we just do it ourselves.”
It’s tempting to think that role playing internally, instead of hiring an outside company or professional role player, will deliver the same experience. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
In my previous blog, I shared what Professional Role Playing is, and the process that I use when I bring a role player to help your team communicate more effectively and compassionately. Here, I’ll share some of the benefits of hiring an outside company to role play with your team.
Role Playing Is a Specialized Skillset (that your staff probably doesn’t have)
“Julie can role play! She did theatre in high school!!” It’s tempting to think that someone on your team who has a background in acting can easily just jump into being a role player. But there are actually a lot of things that a professional role player is doing that Julie, the former thespian, isn’t equipped for.
A professional role player can embody another person’s affect, communication style, age, and personality, and they can do it in a very short amount of time.
As they are working with the participant, a professional role player is of two minds: they are both simultaneously “in character” portraying someone else, and they are aware of what’s happening in their own body and with their own feelings as the conversation is happening.
A role player can offer feedback for how they felt as the other person in the conversation, pointing to specific moments, words, and nonverbal communication.
Read more about role players’ specialized skillset (aka, superpower,) in my previous post.
Role Players Are Unbiased & Objective (your team is biased & subjective)
Ok, let’s assume that “Julie” on your team is halfway decent at role playing. You’re on a budget, and you can’t justify bringing in an outside company to do something that Julie can handle.
But Julie, whether she realizes it or not, is subjective and has unconscious biases towards other members of the team. (And whoever from your team is facilitating the role playing process is also biased and subjective.)
It’s not necessarily their fault; our brains are wired to make judgments about people and constantly be looking for “threats.” (And yes, that eye roll and condescending tone that Carmen used with Julie the other day might have been internalized by Julie as a threat.) As a result, when Julie role plays with Carmen, she is not doing so objectively.
Your team works closely together; they have a history together. It’s hard to let go of all that history and be objective. And biases aren’t always negative. Maybe Julie’s BFF is Veronica. When Julie role plays with Veronica, she will (subconsciously) be “easier” on her than she will be on Carmen.
Professional role players, on the other hand, don’t have a history with your team. They aren’t putting on the role playing hat on; they come to the work as professionals, unbiased and objective.
Your Team Can’t Unlearn What They Already Know
This is probably the most insidious component of role playing with your internal staff. Let’s say that Ruby is a hospice RN with 28 years’ experience. Ruby knows her stuff! She has been asked to help train the newly-hired RNs on how to have a conversation with families about the dying process, and what they can expect.
If Ruby steps into the role playing role, pretending to be a family member hearing about the dying process for the first time, she cannot “un-know” what she already knows. For example, when the new RN starts talking about hallucinations, that will just fly past Ruby, who is pretending to be a family member.
In reality, a family member who is learning about the dying process for the first time is exhausted - mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. And they aren’t learning about dying for the sake of learning, they are learning about it because someone they love very dearly, their parent, spouse, or child - is dying. The word “hallucinations” might frighten, confuse, or upset them. That would be a moment that a professional role player, but not Ruby, would notice as significant. The role player would definitely bring that up as a feedback point. Ruby? Not so much.
The power of using professional role players with your team cannot be matched. The role players can expertly portray anyone, and they can do so without any preparation. They can also be fully present - and without bias - as the role play is occurring, being aware of the moments that stand out to them. And then they can explain how they felt in a gentle yet honest way. Your team deserves this powerful experience, and “Julie” and “Ruby,” despite all their sincerity, deserve the chance to put their role playing hat aside.
__
If you want to explore the possibility of bringing Compassionate Coaching’s role playing to your team, please set up a complimentary consultation with Erin!