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1. iDave - Member

   Today I was on the train back from that London, and the bloke beside me was learning his lines for some Royal Mail sorting office drama, relating to schedules/quotas/backlogs.

   Unbelievable, shocking, mortifyingly badly written bollox. Does this really happen in the work place??

   Scene - the canteen
   Cathy: you look a bit down Colin, everything OK?
   Colin: Oh, hi cathy. Well I can't get my head round these new schedules.
   Cathy: I suppose the guys are quite upset. I can help you describe them in such a way as to gain more support.....
   Colin: Could you. Thanks, that would be great.

   And so on.
   And so on.

   Tried to get a stealth photo of it. Failed, but grim reading.

   I'd rather die than take part in that kind of nonsense.

   Posted 1 year ago #
2. TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR - Member

   Count me in on your suicide pact if I ever find myself presented with that sort of utter gonads.

   Posted 1 year ago #
3. project - Member

   the big supermarkets have the same for job interviews.

   total and utter crap.

   as for royal fail just delkiver the bloody letters not write crap about them.

   Posted 1 year ago #
4. Cougar - Member

   Last time it was suggested we role-play at work, I arrived wearing a gimp mask with an orange up my arse. Imagine my surprise, etc.

   Posted 1 year ago #
5. Kuco - Member

   Been on a few course where they expected us to role play. Some of us even got into trouble for laughing at the whole thing and refusing to do it.

   Posted 1 year ago #
6. Cougar - Member

   Overacting is the way forward, proper scenery-chewing stuff.

   OH! EMM! GEE! DAVID, YOU'VE LEFT THE STAPLER UNATTENDED, IT COULD BE A CHILD'S FACE! *gasp of horror, pose from The Scream*

   Posted 1 year ago #
7. molgrips - Member

   I have also got in trouble for such things. Which is odd as creativity, humour and a desire to think outside the box are usually considered positives...

   Posted 1 year ago #
8. allthepies - Member

   Today I was on the train back from that London

   Good job you weren't trying to escape from Waterloo station. A "jumper" this morning effectively shutdown* all services to/from the station all day.

   * artistic license - but the network was shafted

   Posted 1 year ago #
9. project - Member

   found this,

   http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=269126

   Posted 1 year ago #
10. iDave - Member

    project, that's sickening. have people no self-respect?

    Posted 1 year ago #
11. Cougar - Member

    I have also got in trouble for such things

    Despite the nerd stereotype, pretty much everywhere I've worked throughout my career the IT department has been the resident loony bin. It's the one department in the building that's going to have a handy supply of projectile weaponry, for instance. Geeks will naturally seek the funny side of anything (sometimes very subtly, sometimes less so). Getting them involved in corporate happyclapping is never going to end well.

    Posted 1 year ago #
12. Junkyard - Member

    It is a pedagogy best avoided as you get the reactions shown on here. Many people think it is bollocks but lazy [ or unskilled] teachers/trainers do it as it is easy to arrange.
    OK if the group know each other and it is done in a jokey style otherwise avoid.

    Posted 1 year ago #
13. Cougar - Member

    It is a pedagogy best avoided encouraged as you get the reactions shown on here

    (-:

    Posted 1 year ago #
14. Junkyard - Member

    Good point sorry ..... if the students are little shits do them constantly till they are over the embarrassment.

    Posted 1 year ago #
15. The Southern Yeti - Member

    One company I worked for sent us all on some BS role play training crap like this. At one point we were all given percussion instruments and organised to play a song.

    I started looking for a new job that evening... utter, utter ****! I'm immature, not a child.

    Posted 1 year ago #
16. molgrips - Member

    Getting them involved in corporate happyclapping is never going to end well

    And we are profoundly cynical.

    Posted 1 year ago #
17. allthepies - Member

    One project I worked on made us all attend some luvvy training day run by Laurence Olivier's son. Said son runs a corporate training company which attempts to increase team efficiencies through exploring/roleplaying aspects of Shakespear's plays.

    COMPLETE PONY (and paid for by the taxpayer!)

    Posted 1 year ago #
18. Cougar - Member

    At one point we were all given percussion instruments and organised to play a song.

    I'd have organised a rousing chorus of Kum Bay Ya. Either that or some death metal.

    Posted 1 year ago #
19. deadlydarcy - Member

    I'd rather do role-play than die. For today at least.

    Posted 1 year ago #
20. jools182 - Member

    Do they really do this in interviews?

    Christ, it makes signing on look attractive

    Posted 1 year ago #
21. Junkyard - Member

    Good point TSY you cant make happy teams by doing stupid exercises together

    i once had to do that music thing I drummed a 5/4 rhythm that worked well with a group of non musicians

    Posted 1 year ago #
22. Cougar - Member

    And we are profoundly cynical.

    I consider that to be a positive quality.

    Posted 1 year ago #
23. geetee1972 - Member

    Role play and simulations are an excellent way to screen someone for a job especially when you're hiring someone who hasn't done that particular job before.

    Done badly I can imagine it would be cringe worthy, but done well and it will make a very big difference to an organisations ability to determine whether someone is right for a given job or not, especially where people/behavioural skills are really important (so not for many of the jobs that your average STW reader would be applying for )

    There are some very serious governmental organisations that use role plays very extensively as part of their 'selection' process. I doubt anyone here would sniff at them.

    Posted 1 year ago #
24. CaptJon - Member

    I thought the Department of Charades was cut to help reduce the deficit.

    Posted 1 year ago #
25. Junkyard - Member

    I have done that one allthepies. He really underplays his luvvy status and does not like to use his fathers name though very unassuming and reserved fella I thought. Did not like mentioning his books either

    Posted 1 year ago #
26. geetee1972 - Member

    I thought the Department of Charades was cut to help reduce the deficit.

    There are some departments that have had their budgets substantially increased recently.

    Posted 1 year ago #
27. neilsonwheels - Member

    I worked for a big logistics company a few years ago and to "climb" the ladder this sort of shite was all part and parcel of the interview/promotion process. If you wanted a few extra grand in your hand at the end of the month then jumping through hoops was very much the way to go.

    Absolute b*****ks. Imho of coarse.

    Posted 1 year ago #
28. iDave - Member

    GT - it really is bollox, isn't it? leaving aside your professional bias....

    What if someone is a **** amazing candidate but can't 'act' or sing? Or is an independent thinker?

    Posted 1 year ago #
29. Junkyard - Member

    geetee surely if they had never done the job before you would not expect them to be able to do the job and be willing and able to train them. WTF is the point of a role play then? well apart from to make money for recruitment consultants to devise them and tell these depts how good they are at selecting the right candidates [ as the wrong ones never get the training we have no control to measure against] Snake oil I tell the [ partly tongue in cheek partly serious]

    Posted 1 year ago #
30. geetee1972 - Member

    Well it really depends on what we're talking about.

    If you mean does working with an out of work actor on something theatrical or banging a bunch of drums together in time develop team building skills or give you some insight into a person's suitability for a given role, then yes, that's bollocks. It might be fun though, in the same way that a corporate day out at Brands Hatch is fun.

    But structured role plays, not scripted but well structured, i.e. with defined parameters, clear focus on the skills and capabilities being measured, usually with occupational psychologists in the key roles as part of a carefully structured assessed role play are really terribly accurate in predicting suitability for a job, especially where the key skills are focsued on leadership or realtionship management, for example sales.

    [quote]WTF is the point of a role play then?[quote]

    Because a lot of jobs need you to demonstrate aptitude, for example a police officer and you can assess this in role plays.

    Posted 1 year ago #
31. The Southern Yeti - Member

    geetee1972... you're awesome.

    Kick your shoes off, look at your career and chosen profession and just be honest, for once, please?

    Posted 1 year ago #
32. Junkyard - Member

    really terribly accurate in predicting suitability for a job,

    
    see my point above about control group oh great scientist of the pshche the ones not selected can never be assessed doing the job. It is a meaningless claim to make. People only interview people they think can do the job , meet the essential criteria, skills knowledge etc. Not surprising that they can actually do the job succesful role play or not.
    

    The negative reaction to this kind of thing is usually associated with people feeling insecure about their role

    
    yes people hate role playing because everyone loves acting good call
    I have done these for external agencies with clinical psychologists most of them did not think they were that great a tool and accepted we were doing it for money from the gullible ...was well paid easy money to be fair.

    do you think an actor or an am dram [ or recruitment consultant- bet you have trained folk on how to do better at these haven't you - play both sides]would do better at these than someone else ..is it not just conceivable that you other factors other than ability to do the job are being measured and observed?

    Posted 1 year ago #
33. geetee1972 - Member

    Kick your shoes off, look at your career and chosen profession and just be honest, for once, please?

    Doing just fine thanks TSY.

    How are the wife and kids?

    Posted 1 year ago #
34. deadlydarcy - Member

    just be honest, for once, please

    Sounds like he's being honest. Why so hostile? Just because you were forced out of your comfort zone? If the role-play involved arsing around in a gym you'd have been right at home.

    Posted 1 year ago #
35. iDave - Member

    well structured, i.e. with defined parameters

    So unrelated to the real world then?

    Posted 1 year ago #

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