Learning efficiently: company fiction with ‘We are the protagonists’

‘We are the protagonists’ is a format created by Amicucci Formazione that involves employees and trains them on organisational behaviour in a new and engaging way: by making them the protagonists in movies created by them. They have the chance to collaborate on a common project, which is often not directly connected to the company’s main activities. In fact, the company often needs to bring an important issue to everyone’s attention, such as safety or the future, competitors or how to deal with a new challenge, and everyone is called to participate. The idea of ‘We are the protagonists’ is to make 6 or 7 groups of colleagues work on short scenes, helped by the staff of Amicucci Formazione, where they are the stars, and to involve not only their superiors but also those who work in the staff canteen, from the general director to receptionists. At this point, their imagination takes over. There is usually a subject for the film but it can be freely developed in any direction. Working in these contexts often surprises me. I find people who are not only very generous in offering their services, but who are also very creative. This generates various results: the first objective is to finish the project that is, to transform the scenes into short films – and this usually has excellent results. Furthermore, various group dynamics emerge, such as leadership, the use of lateral thinking for finding new strategies and all those completely human characteristics that, in protected contexts such as their daily work environment, would not emerge. I refer to sensibility, attention, taking and managing risks, shyness or embarrassment which when channelled have good outcomes, not to mention their enthusiasm when they see something they have created that is so different from their work and so well made. The scenes they create, which are fast-paced and engaging, can be produced in a series and are ideal for learning, for example, sales techniques, communication and leadership internalising company values identifying and putting into practice small ‘tricks of the trade’ that, at work, make all the difference. Moreover, their effectiveness lasts longer than the making of the videos, as these can be used, via the internet and company platforms, by everyone concerned, and become an integral part of the company’s training assets. Coordinating and directing everything is very satisfying for us, firstly because the effort and authenticity that we encounter is just like that of children when playing a game for example, if someone dies they mustn’t get up until the end of the game. Moreover, what could be better than discovering that innocent, unfiltered truth and freedom that, for whatever reason, many people have lost. This kind of “company training” takes time but leads to very stimulating results for both the participants and the company. Barbara Folchitto, director for ‘We are the protagonists’ www.barbarafolchitto.com showreel