HOW TO TRAIN PEOPLE WITH REAL,

MEASURABLE OUTCOMES
A highly efficient tool, inspired on the principles of Behavioral Psychology, becomes a multiplier of
internal consultants and presents itself as means of a professional training and qualification with
surprising measurable outcomes.

JOÃO JACOB

INTRODUCTION
Group dynamics, expository class, video-conference, multimedia
production and theater are some of the methodologies and
resources used in business trainings.
The conventional training has serious limitations. Too much time
spent on too few results is one of them. Difficulty in measuring real
and practical progress is another. Return on the high investment it
requires is yet another question lacking a convincing answer.
As a psychology student, I glanced at such reality years before
actually entering college as my father is a corporate training
consultant. I have lived for over a decade with the ups and downs
of conventional trainings.
In face of this reality, I proposed a solution presented to the
business community in this article. I take as model a typical
example of employment training: the traineeship of a waiter.

I give special attention to a specific procedure in waiting tables in order to lay base to the idea I intend
to transmit to the reader. I refer to “going over the order”. In this step, the waiter must repeat, out loud,
the costumer’s choice of beverages and dishes so as to check the order and avoid mistakes.
Allow me, from now on, to explain the tool I have developed.

EXPOSITION
To begin with, the aspiring waiter receives a basic informative training about the step-by-step service
performed in the restaurant. Only then is he invited to take part in a virtual service experience, that is,
a game.
This is not a computer-based game. It involves people and focuses on interaction.
The participants are:
 A guide, which can be the headwaiter, the manager or someone who, knowing the
service well enough, has been trained and certified by me on the principles that rule the
game and the training.
 The aspiring waiter.
 Another person, who will play the role of customer-actor.
The three sit at the table over which there are three piles of cards and a ten-faced numbered dice.
All sat. The game begins.
In the first pile of cards there are descriptions of various settings at the restaurant: a busy Sunday
lunch, an evening of wine and special cuisine, etc. The trainee draws a card that will set the scene in
this simulation.

The customer-actor draws a card from the second pile.

These describe the profiles of customers – young, elderly
man in suit and tie, a well-dressed woman and daughter, an
executive, etc. The content of the card is read out loud so
that everyone knows how the customer-actor will look like.
He also draws a card from the third pile. This time, he and
the guide keep a secret about the content of the card. It
determines the personality traits of the customer-actor –
demanding, ill-tempered, friendly, methodical, intolerant, etc.

The guide describes the scenario in this training. It must be rich in details and thought-provoking,
address the environment and the ways of the customer that has just arrived.
The trainee starts his service drill and performs each step. The first one is welcoming the customer-
actor who simulates his entrance into the restaurant, now role-playing his personality.
We get to the moment of choosing the dishes. Let’s assume that the trainee gives the appropriate
visual attention to the customer-actor, however, he forgets to go over the order. He forwards his notes
to the kitchen just as he heard them.
When the dishes are ready, he takes them to the customer-actor in the usual manner.
The guide intervenes, letting him know that he did not go over the order at the moment he should have
done so and that this has consequences. What consequences? Whatever it is, it will be imposed by
the ten-faced dice. The guide then asks the trainee to roll the dice. The number returned was, let’s
say, 2.

The way the dice works is simple. If the number is “low,”

between 1 and 3, it means the waiter’s mistake will have
radically serious consequences. Between 4 and 7, the
guide might impose a mild consequence of his own
choice. Between 8 and 10, it means that, despite not
having gone over the order orally, the aspiring waiter
was able to hear the order well and forwarded it
correctly to the kitchen – mild consequences. Pure luck!

Returning to the case at hand, the number was 2. The situation spells crisis and has a meaning: The
waiter misheard the order, wrote it down wrongly and the kitchen prepared just what was written. He
will have to come up with a solution. Time is going by. Any solution he presents will be analyzed by the
customer-actor who, loyal to his personality, will give feedback of rejection, tolerance or, in a borderline
situation, a burst of offenses over the mistake he was a victim of.
The guide will analyze the waiter’s decision and make helpful comments on it, allowing him the chance
of proposing new solutions to the customer-actor, if needed be. The dynamics goes on until the waiter
does the right thing.
The game lasts until the end of the service – coffee, the check, leaving – always bringing up situations
and focuses similar to the ones described so far. The goal is to make the customer happy.
At the end of the session, the guide will take notes in the trainee’s Assessment Card. Along with the
notes from the next training sessions, there is a performance profile – strong and weak points,
successes and failures. This will allow for the definition of a strategy for the next trainings.

STRUCTURING THE IDEA

My tool allows for a wide range of situations and faces the trainee with the very same scenarios he will
see in real life. It can be used in the training of a car dealer, a real estate agent, to practice the debate
against objections to sales, and other circumstances which demand well-prepared professionals.
The possibility of repeating any procedure as much as it might take is another advantage which results
in the reinforcement of desired practices and behaviors.
The usual routine of the conventional training followed by direct contact of the trainee with a real
customer would be completely different of what I have shown so far. Emotional stress and other
drawbacks could imply in the loss of the customer or of the trainee’s talents.
I named the tool I have developed Training Game®. Its working principle comes from Behavioral
Psychology where we learn that any behavior is maintained due to the consequences. These
consequences are very close to reality, without the risk of losses. They are voiced by the guide and
take place in two ways:
1. When the trainee rolls the dice and faces the “factual” consequence, that is: seeing a low or
high number and knowing what it means. The situation the waiter will face must abide by the
professional rules defined at his job;
2. The guide gives instant feedback regarding the behavior adopted by the trainee on the
possible critical situations that arise.
Behavior and consequences producing learning.

The cards and the dice produce a great range of

situations. The guide’s creativity is paired with the
hundreds of possible combinations of these elements to
make each session of the Training Game® unique,
striking and significant. The participants feel, this way,
motivated. The benefits come as service technique and
the development of essential competences,
communication skill and customer satisfaction.

The main goal of the Training Game® is met when the trainee shows increasingly better results in the
performance assessment and is then transferred to the actual scenario of his relation with the
customer. This will take place with the assurance of fully developing the observance of rules and the
ability to overcome crisis. “The more we sweat in peace the less we bleed in war,” master Tom Peters
has taught.
After the expected results have been reached in the training stage, the guide will be able to proceed
with the tutoring of the trainee using the Training Game® in a more demanding way, proposing more
complex situations and, thus, producing continuous and lasting improvement. The trainee will be able
to take up the role of guide over new trainees as soon as he shows fluidity, knowledge and is certified
for doing so. This way, the Training Game® will be acting as a multiplying agent of internal consulting
and as a provider of excellence.
The Training Game® is indicated for any activity
which involves interaction between two or more
people.
So far, all practical applications of the Training
Game® caused positive surprise to the user due to
the speed with which the goals are met and due to the
positive change of perception of trainings by
everyone. This was my personal goal being sought
after since its inception.

João Jacob Buchala is psychologist, upgrading at Hebrew University of

Jerusalem, Israel. Contact: joaojacobbuchala@gmail.com