Scenario 1C: Tough Times at Luxx and Co
This scenario involves an employee who is struggling to cope with his stressful job. He decides to ask his colleague for advice on how to better manage the current situation.
Role-Play Scenario
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Times are tough at Luxx and Co, a luxury leather goods company. With the tough financial situation of the current economy and potential looming recession, Luxx and Co’s have noticed a consistent decline in sales over the last few months. The decline in sales is particularly worrying as this is usually Luxx and Co’s busiest time of the year. Connor the marketing manager is particularly stressed as the last two marketing campaigns have not resulted in any growth in sales and have been doubted “a fail” on the grapevine. Connor has been working long hours including weekends to strategise on new campaigns and it is starting to take a toll on Connor. He is struggling to cope with the stress of being responsible for poor marketing campaigns and cannot see a clear path on how the organisation can improve sales. He decides to speak with Jethro, a close colleague from the finance department to see how he is coping and ask for any advice on how to manage the current situation.
Role-Play Instructions
- Organise participants into groups of 3 and allocate roles (employee Connor, employee Jethro, observer)
- Read the scenario information
- Ask participants to read the role-play scenario information
- Suggested role-play time is 50 minutes
- Preparation time: 10 minutes
- Role play time: 20 minutes
- Debrief time (observer to also provide feedback to role players): 10 minutes
- Group debrief time: 10 minutes
Role-Player 3: Observer
As the observer, your role in the scenario is to observe the relationship and conversation between the two role players. Part of your role is not to make judgements or interrupt the role play, but rather take notes on the conversation. Taking observation notes will be a critical part of the debrief, where you are able to provide the role players with your perspective on how the conversation went. To assist with taking observational notes, here are some questions to consider:
- What skills did Jethro display in the conversation?
- What non-verbal cues were utilised by Jethro in the conversation?
- Did the conversation end in a resolution? If so, what and how?
- What skills could have Jethro utilised to assist in the conversation?
Post Role-Play Debrief Questions
At the conclusion of the role-play, it is imperative that the participants are given the opportunity to debrief with each other and other role-playing groups. It is also important for the observer to provide the role players with feedback on what they observed in the relationship and conversation between the two role players. The debrief should be prefaced by first outlining the importance of feedback in the spirit of learning through action and reflection and not seen as the opportunity to highlight weaknesses or communicate criticism. The following questions can be utilised to guide the debrief process, with the ability to include further content-specific questions on the counselling process and/or skills in accordance with your curriculum.
- How did you find the role-play exercise?
- What went well in the role-play?
- What did you find difficult about the role play?
- What would have helped improve your experience in the role play?
- What would you do differently next time you engage in a similar conversation?
- What skills were evident in the role play?
