How about learning from movies?

Seems like employees can learn to work better by watching movies...

If you thought movies were just entertainment and a reason to feel good, corporate trainers want you to rethink! What’s common to Forrest Gump,Saving Private Ryan, and Cinderella Man, apart from being Academy award winners? Aren’t they all awe-inspiring and extremely motivating? Capitalising on these qualities of movies, trainers and management consultancies are increasingly finding use of movies as an effective tool for learning in corporate India. Other than the ones mentioned above, My Fair Lady, Bridge on the River Kwai, Executive Decision, and Scent of a Woman are others, which are used for various training modules.

Movies are no more pure indulgence as what sectarians might say... they are finding a place in the toolkit of various HR trainers to be used for imparting learning effectively. They are no more all about big biz and bigger bucks for directors and producers alone! A spokesperson for Genesis Events India, which conducts such workshops, says, “In the workshop, participants view snippets from popular Hollywood films, examine, discuss, and then evaluate the learning that they gather, and then assess the possible application of that learning to the everyday problems that they face at work.” Well, the methodology of these training sessions might be poles apart from conventional ones, but the point is the learning from these sessions is retained well. And so, the concept seems to be working well; after all, who does not want to have loads of learning entertainment?

Wait, what about desi movies? Lagaan has already found widespread use for training in businesses and B-schools as an exemplary leadership model. Then, there’s Munnabhai MBBS that is being ‘viewed’ for training on motivation. Similarly, Iqbal is being used for personal development, Ek Ruka Hua Faisla for negotiation skills... and the list goes on. Says an executive, “It’s like we’re back in school, learning lessons out of stories.”

So, next time you happen to watch some exciting movie, be sure that you get the moral of the story: It may be a corporate lesson!