You can talk, write, email, lecture and explain until you’re blue in the face, but communicating the most effective ways for shelter staff to interact with colleagues and the public calls for a little drama.
A recent Maddie’s InstituteSM survey of executive directors, employees and volunteers from companion-animal care organizations across the country revealed that approximately 75 percent of respondents reported that role-play is rarely or never incorporated in their organization’s training and/or development programs.
Business experts, however, acknowledge that simple role-playing works best for developing solid responses to both every day and challenging situations in the workplace.
From Mind Tools, an online center for management and leadership training:
[Role-play] is most useful for preparing for unfamiliar or difficult situations… you build up experience and self-confidence for handling it in real life… you develop quick and instinctively-correct reactions to situations. This means that you’ll react effectively as situations evolve, rather than making mistakes or becoming overwhelmed by events.
Role-play can provide a framework, teaching workers how to tackle tricky inter-personal situations with poise, perspective and with the best interests of the organization, animals and customers in mind.
You can read a step-by-step guide to using role-playing in your organization on the Mind Tools website.
You can see more training and development tips from Maddie’s Institute survey here, and view or download a PDF of the entire report here.