S1 E11 Building Muscle Memory Through Role-Playing Exercises

Summary   In this conversation, Dr. Marc Reynolds discusses the importance of role-playing exercises in fostering a positive workplace culture and enhancing team effectiveness. He emphasizes the need to practice and build muscle memory in a low-stakes environment before facing high-risk or tense situations.   Dr. Reynolds suggests organizing interactive workshops where employees can role-play scenarios directly related to their daily work challenges. He also highlights the benefits of role-playing in improving communication skills and increasing confidence.   Additionally, Dr. Reynolds recommends integrating short role-playing segments into regular team meetings and hosting leadership role-playing sessions led by senior leaders. By actively participating in role-playing exercises, leaders can demonstrate the importance of these exercises and create a supportive atmosphere for learning and growth.   Takeaways

• Role-playing exercises help build muscle memory and prepare employees for real-life situations.
• Interactive workshops based on real-life scenarios can make role-playing more engaging and relevant.
• Integrating role-playing segments into team meetings can improve communication skills and confidence.
• Leadership role-playing sessions led by senior leaders can demonstrate the importance of role-playing and create a supportive learning environment.

Chapters   00:00 Building Muscle Memory Through Role-Playing Exercises 01:40 Engaging Employees with Interactive Workshops 02:59 Improving Communication Skills and Confidence Through Role-Playing 04:50 Demonstrating Leadership Through Role-Playing Sessions   Keywords   role-playing exercises, workplace culture, team effectiveness, practice, interactive workshops, communication skills, confidence, team meetings, leadership role-playing sessions  

Episode Transcript

(00:14):
If you
are a business leader looking to fostera positive workplace culture, enhance team
effectiveness and navigate challengeseffectively while focusing
on strategic objectives Orif you just want to make work work better.
Join us for a mini workshop where we sharethree things you can do today.
I'm your host, Dr. Marc Reynolds.
And today we're going to be talking abouthow to implement

(00:35):
role playing exercise and encourage eageremployee participation.
Often the best way to learnsomething is by doing it.
You have to build muscle memory.
You have to try it out and fail and learn how to do it better.
You need to create a mental picture andphysical responses of how to do something.
If you don't role play, thenthe only way you practice is with a client

(00:58):
or in a high risk situation, or in a tense
situation with a colleague or employee.
It makes much more sense to practicein a low
stakes environmentfirst to work out the kinks.
You try to do role playingand you get eye rolls
from peoplefeel like it's juvenile and demeaning.
Or most likelythose are all secondary responses

(01:19):
to people just feeling uncomfortableabout being under scrutiny
by their colleagueswhen trying something new.
How do you not only use role playingas a positive training and practice tool,
but also make it something that employeesstart looking forward to
and doing on their own?
As Kerry suggested in her interview,make scenario based role playing workshops

(01:40):
that are based on real life scenarios.
Organize interactive workshopsfor employees.
Role play scenarios directly
related to their daily work challengesor potential future situations.
You might have one role playing sessionwhere you're exploring really odd
off the wall or difficult situationsas an exploratory fun challenge exercise.

(02:03):
But the majorityof what you should be doing
is what the average normaleveryday is going to look like.
Until they have that down solidand then they'll start bringing in
real life problemsthat they're encountering.
And you can start sharing thosewithin your team
and practicing and roleplaying the ideal response to those.
These could include handlingdifficult customer interactions,

(02:23):
negotiating with partners,or managing internal conflicts.
To encourage participation highlightthe practical benefits
of these exercises,such as improved communication skills
and increased confidencein handling real life situations.
One of the ways you can make ita safer environment, is
by encouraging them to take risksand to make mistakes.
When they make mistakes, being effective

(02:45):
in how you're offering feedbackand first offering validation
and reassurances of the progressthat they're making.
Second,implement role playing and team meetings.
They don't have to be long,but integrate short role playing segments
into regular team meetings.
This is crucial.
The way we talk about itwhen we're talking in creative terms,

(03:06):
such as during opera or working witha performer or working with someone else
is you have to make ideas concrete,
whether that's making a prototypeof something, drawing it, writing it.
But the best way to make an ideaconcrete is to role play the situation
between two people.
Because when we're talking about business,the majority of what we're talking about

(03:27):
is interactionbetween two people or a person in a group
or two groups of people.
And the more we role play,the more we're going to build the skills
necessary and be preparedto enter those difficult situations.
For example, you might dedicate a portionof the meeting to practice elevator
pitches, simulate crisis management,

(03:49):
rehearse giving and receivingconstructive feedback.
To make it fun and less intimidating,introduce lighthearted scenarios
occasionally and offer small incentivesor recognition for participation.
Encourage a supportive atmospherewhere mistakes are viewed
as learning opportunities.
Don't make it a big deal.
The more you do it,
the more comfortable people get, the morethey'll see the benefit.

(04:11):
They'll see why it's so important.
If they fight you at the beginningof doing it, do your best to encourage.
And as they start doing itand seeing the benefits
and seeing the improvement, they'll buyinto it and want to do it on their own.
This also gives you, as an executive,a better idea of what's
actually going on in the workplaceor with interactions with clients.

(04:32):
You get to seewhat's coming out of their mouth
and how they're presentingthemselves in their body, so that either
you can give constructive feedbackor you can bring someone like us in
to help them work with their communicationand body language.
Final idea that you can implementtoday is leadership role playing sessions.
Host role playing sessions led by the CEOor other senior leaders, demonstrating

(04:54):
the importance of these exercisesby actively participating themselves.
Maybe they even open themselvesup to critique or purposely do something
that is a mistake that they're seeingthat they're wanting corrected.
So then employees can see it happeningand that you are
demonstrating what it isto be open to feedback and improvement.
These sessions can addresskey business objectives such as navigating

(05:16):
change, driving innovation,or fostering collaboration.
By modeling the behaviorand showing vulnerability,
the leadership team can make role playingmore appealing and less daunting.
Follow up on the sessionswith open discussions
or employees can share their insightsand reflections, reinforcing
the value of role playing as a toolfor personal and professional growth.
If you'll make role playing an active partof your training sessions, your review

(05:41):
meetings, even if it's an annual reviewworking through difficult moments.
I like to call this the rewind option.
If we're in a growth learning,collaborative,
innovative situation,we need to offer ourselves and our teams
the opportunity to rewind and try it againin a way that is more productive,

(06:03):
that is going to achieve our objectives
more efficientlyand with greater authenticity.
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We'd love to hear what you have to say,what your wins and fails have been,
what we can do to better support youin making work work better.
We hope to see you or work with youin the near future.

(06:26):
See you next time.