TGL: May 2013

Roleplay

People enjoy putting on a show. In this activity two teams compete to produce the best roleplay based on the same scenarios. Two other teams provide audience rating and constructive feedback.

Virtual Video Vignettes

Basic Idea

Two teams separately prepare and act out the same basic roleplay. Other participants watch these role-plays, compare the two versions, and evaluate them.

Purpose

To recall and apply customer-service principles.

Participants

Minimum: 8
Maximum: 28
Best: 16 - 24

Time

30 minutes to 1 hour

Supplies

2 Scenarios, one for each pair of teams
Paper
Pencils or pens
Countdown timer
Whistle

Preparation

Select two scenarios from these samples (or prepare your own):

Mixed-Up Pick-Up. A customer arrives at your business at 2:00 PM to pick-up a product that you promised would be ready at 3:00 PM. The customer is sure that you said 2:00 PM.
Haven't Got a Clue! The customer asks for a music CD. You have never heard of the artist. You cannot find the artist in the computer database either.
I Can't Understand You. You are serving a customer whose first language is other than your own. You find it difficult to understand him.
No Longer Works here. An irate customer demands to speak to her Customer Service Representative. However, that person has since left the company. The customer's anger escalates and she demands to speak to the manager. The manager is out for the day.

Make enough copies of the two selected scenarios for the members of the two pairs of teams.

Flow

Organize participants into teams. Divide the participants into four teams of two to seven people each. It does not matter if some of the teams have one more member than the others.

Distribute roleplay scenarios. Each pair of teams should receive the same scenario. For example, if you have four teams, Teams 1 and 2 may receive the first scenario; Teams 3 and 4, the second scenario.

Explain the roleplay task. Ask the teams to pretend that they are producing a 2-minute training video to demonstrate appropriate customer service. The task for each team is to prepare a dramatic vignette and act it out. Recommend that the vignette feature just two people playing the roles of a customer and an employee. Announce a 5-minute preparation time. Because of the limited time, encourage the teams to rapidly prepare an outline for the video, quickly rehearse key incidents, and improvise the lines.

Explain the evaluation task. The video vignette staged by each team will be evaluated along these three dimensions:

Authenticity: Is the vignette realistic and believable?
Instructional value: Does the vignette emphasize key principles and procedures in customer service?
Interest: Does the vignette attract and maintain audience attention?

Coordinate planning activities. Remind the teams that they have 5 minutes to prepare their vignette. Start the timer. Let teams work on their own. Give a 2-minute warning at the end of 3 minutes. Blow a whistle at the end of 5 minutes to signal the end of the planning time.

Stage the roleplays. Send all members of Team 2 out of the room. Ask the actors from Team 1 to stage their vignette. Remind of the 2-minute time limit and strictly enforce this limit. Invite the members of Teams 3 and 4 to carefully watch the vignette.

At the end of 2 minutes, stop the roleplay and invite Team 1 to return to the room and stage its vignette. (The first team can stay in the room and watch the enactment.)

Ask the audience teams to announce their ratings. After the second segment, ask the members of Teams 3 and 4 to select one of the two vignettes as the best drama. Invite these teams to briefly present evaluative feedback on the three rating dimensions (authenticity, instructional value, and interest) for both vignettes.

Repeat the process. Send Team 4 outside the room and have Team 3 stage its vignette. Bring Team 4 back to the room for its presentations. Ask the members of Teams 1 and 2 select the best vignette and to provide feedback.

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Card Game

Silent Sorting

Here's a modified version of a flexible planning technique called Affinity Diagrams (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affinity_diagram ) that is used to organize ideas and data. Silent Sorting requires you to organize practical advice cards into logical clusters. In the process you learn more about the relationship among different pieces of advice.

About the Cards

This game uses a deck of Practical Advice Cards.

Each card in a deck of 52 Practical Advice Cards contains an actionable guideline related to a specific topic. We currently have 10 different ready-to-use decks of cards for sale in our online store on the topics of trust building, coaching, interviewing, customer service, feedback, listening, managing globally, leadership, motivation, and presentation skills.

This activity, Silent Sorting, does not require a deck of ready-made Practical Advice Cards. You can get started with your own collection of practical advice or ask the participants to generate their own.

Synopsis

The participants work in teams and silently sort packets of practical advice cards into logical categories. Later they discuss and improve the categories and label them.

Purpose

To organize practical advice cards into logical categories.

Participants

Minimum: 3
Maximum: Any number, organized into groups of three to five.
Best: 10 to 30

Time

120 - 40 minutes

Handout

Handout, Silent Sorting Instructions, one copy for each participant

Supplies

A deck of Practical Advice Cards for each group
Blank index cards
Paper clips

Flow

Organize teams. Divide the participants into teams, each with at least three to five members.

Brief the participants. Distribute copies of the instruction sheet to all participants. Ask them to read the instructions individually. After a suitable pause, clarify the instructions as needed.

Distribute the cards. Give one complete set of practical advice cards to each team. Briefly explain the nature of the pieces of practical advice on each card.

Coordinate the activity. Ask the teams to begin their task and organize the practical advice cards. Announce a suitable time limit. Move among the teams observing the activities. Keep track of the time.

Conclude the activity. Blow the whistle at the end of the time limit. Ask teams to arrange their item cards and headings on the table and invite participants to review other teams' products.

Debrief the activity. Discuss the similarities and differences among different teams arrangement of the pieces of advice. Also ask participants to reflect back on the activity and share their insights about the topic.

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Handout

Silent Sorting Instructions

What To Do With the Practical Advice Cards

Take a packet of about 10 cards from the pile and spread them on the table, written side up.

Stand around the table and silently read the pieces of advice on the cards.

Sort the cards silently and independently, using the guidelines below.

Review other participants' actions. Move cards from one location to another to improve the arrangement. However, do not talk to the other team members.

When you have sorted the initial packet of cards, spread the other cards, written side up. Repeat the same procedure.

What To Do After All Cards Have Been Sorted Out

You may now talk. Briefly discuss the arrangement with the other team members. Make suitable changes and improvements.

Review the cards in each cluster. Come up with a suitable heading for the cluster. Write this on a blank card and place it on top of the cluster.

Count the total number of clusters. If you have fewer than five clusters, you have too few. Review the cluster with the most cards and split them into two different clusters. Write new heading cards for these clusters.

If you have more than nine clusters, you have too many. Review the clusters with the fewest cards and combine them into a single cluster.

Review the cards in each cluster and arrange them in some logical order.

Guidelines

Duplicate Advice

If two cards contain the same advice (but worded differently), combine them into a single item by attaching the two cards together with a paper clip.

Similar Advice

If two cards contain similar pieces of advice (but not exactly the same ones), place them near each other.

More than One Piece of Advice

If a single card contains more than one piece of advice, divide the text into two cards by copying one of the pieces of advice on a blank card and crossing it out from the other card.

Different Advice

If a card contains a piece of advice that is different from the previous ones, place it away from the other cards.

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Video Jolt

Palm Reading

We are producing a series of video jolts and hope to release them in upcoming issues of TGL.

This issue's jolt is called Palm Reading and it lasts for 2 minutes and 33 seconds. Visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7xGKAXN6Ic to watch it.

The learning point in the video is that the farther you move away from an object or event the better you see the bigger picture. Distance provides you a look at the context.

Enjoy the jolt and let me know what insights you came up with.

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Online Game

Training Sequence

One of the most useful training tools that I have been using for decades is Robert Gagné's Events of Instruction. Here is the basic idea: In order to learn effectively, participants need nine different types of external support in a particular sequence.

We have created an online game that lists the nine events of instruction. At the start of the game, they are arranged in a random order. Your task is to drag and drop them in the correct order.

You can play the game at http://thiagi.net/owgs/TrainingSequence_sample9.html. Special thanks to students of Gregory Rawlins's P632 class on Object-Oriented Software Management for rewriting the game engine to work with mobile devices as well as laptops and desktops.

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New Workshop

How To Increase and Improve Trust Levels

Bad news: During the past decade, trust levels have been decreasing rapidly among participants, team members, customers, employees, and organizations. Many powerful reasons are accelerating this decline. Good news: You can use effective strategies to increase trustworthiness at various levels of your interpersonal interactions.

Workshop Goals and Outcomes

Level IV: Business Results. Increase innovation, productivity and profits through trust-based collaboration. Decrease bureaucracy, surveillance, duplication, turnover, rumors, gossip, and other costly consequences of distrust.
Level III: Professional Behaviors. Implement suitable strategies for increasing and improving different aspects of trust in your interactions with colleagues, team members, managers, customers, partners, and others.
Level II: Learning Outcomes. Recall and apply different principles associated with increasing trust.
Level I: Learning Process. Participate in a series of relevant, engaging, and hands-on activities for exploring and mastering principles and procedures associated with trust.

Who Should Attend

Leaders who want to inspire and influence their followers
Managers who want to increase the loyalty and trust of all employees
Team members who want to collaboratively and efficiently achieve their goals
Salespeople who want their customers to trust the products and services
Anyone who wants to increase their credibility and authenticity in their interactions

Workshop Content

What is trust?
Types of trust
Importance of trust
How to measure your trust level
Improving trust with SPARK: Selflessness, Predictability, Authenticity, Relatedness, and Know-how
How to increase your selfless focus on others
How to increase your predictability and reliability
How to increase your authenticity and genuineness
How to increase your relatedness and commonality
How to increase your know-how and capacity

What Is Unique About This Workshop?

Evidence-based content. The workshop uses a conceptual model that is based on empirical principles, sound theory, and solid experiences from the field.

Experiential learning. This hands-on workshop uses a variety of field-tested activities including engaging exercises, interactive lectures, authentic roleplays, and debriefing discussions.

Aligned approach. All content presented in the workshop is immediately incorporated in learning activities. All new skills and knowledge are directly aligned with effective behavior in the workplace and measurable results from your organization.

No bait and switch. Many workshops associated with thought leaders in our field are frequently conducted by inexperienced contract trainers. Not so in our case: This workshop is designed and delivered by Thiagi and his senior associates.

For More Information

Watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieVEGJP67lY .

Public Workshop in Portland

Thiagi and his associates will conduct this public workshop in Portland, Oregon on August 8-9, 2013. We will provide more information in a future issue of TGL.

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US Workshops

Workshops in the USA

For the past 20 years, Interactive Techniques for Instructor-Led Training has been rated by participants around the world as one of the best training-design and -delivery workshops. Based on local demand, Thiagi and Matt are happy to announce that they will present this workshop in ~~seven~~ five different US cities in 2013. (July 2013 addendum: Unfortunately, the workshops scheduled for July 2013 had to be cancelled.)

WHAT: Interactive Techniques for Instructor-Led Training: A 3-day workshop

FOR WHOM: Trainers, facilitators, instructional designers, performance consultants, and managers

HOW MUCH: Regular registration rate: $1600. As a reader of the Thiagi GameLetter, get $200 off by entering coupon code TGL-WS13 when you register online.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9lJvilwIoU .