It's common to experience stress in life, and while we can't always avoid it, we can work on building resistance to its negative effects.

However, how we respond to stress can have a significant impact on our health, sometimes more so than the stressor itself. By utilizing positive strategies for managing stress, we can become more resilient and recover more quickly from its negative impacts. Interestingly, we often model effective stress management techniques in our role-play activities at work, without even realizing it. These techniques can be applied to our daily lives to help us become more resilient to stress and its effects.

For instance, sales development reps, such as Gong SDRs, typically undergo role-playing training using Gong's coaching tool. This technique has been proven effective in preparing new hires for success and can be applied to build a resilient and adaptable team in any field.

To create a cross-functional role-playing strategy with your team, you can use this framework. Start by having your employees familiarize themselves with different roles within the company. Then, allow everyone to learn more about another team's responsibilities by changing their job title and having them take part in a role-playing exercise.

For instance, your product team can role-play a problematic customer support experience. This will help them gain valuable insights and learn how to improve their service. Similarly, your sales team can take part in an engineering stand-up to understand the technical aspects of your product. This can create more empathy internally and help them sell your product faster.

This method is also suitable for managers. It can benefit your company and managers' personal growth if they spend some time on the front line, working directly with customers. As the saying goes, "Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes." So let your co-workers walk in each other's shoes; it could be a game-changer.

It's important to remember that a team with a high amount of grit is a motivated team that is focused on achieving long-term goals. So, it's crucial to align this Framework with their personal mission.

Beforehand, share the Framework with the team and gather feedback. If the feedback is positive, align your team members with the departments they are interested in. Then, commit to an inter-department role-playing program with another business function.