Facilitating a crisis exercise requires a balance of preparation and adaptability. By keeping participants engaged, focused, and comfortable in their roles, the facilitator can ensure the simulation is educational and effective.

Preparation

Define Clear Objectives - Whether it’s testing a new plan or process, improving communication, or crisis preparedness, set clear objectives for the exercise.

Develop Realistic Scenarios - Use real-world events, tailored to your industry and landscape, to build relevant scenarios.

Prepare Logistics - From technical setups to briefing documents, ensure all logistical aspects – including technology like video conferencing tools or software – are planned in advance.

Enforce Roles and Responsibilities - Define the roles of participants, observers, and facilitators, ensuring expectations are clearly delineated.

Complete a Practice Run - Practice facilitating the scenario before your actual session, enabling you to make any adjustments and to facilitate the exercise confidently.

Plan the Debrief - A post exercise debrief session is an essential conclusion to any exercise, and should be arranged before the exercise begins. Consult the Immersive Labs Debrief Guide to help you plan this.

During the exercise

Establish Ground Rules - Set clear expectations about participation, communication, and decision-making processes, which will ensure all participants can contribute effectively.

Maintain Real-Time Flexibility - A skilled facilitator must be ready to adapt based on participants’ decisions and the evolving situation, keeping the exercise dynamic and challenging.

Encourage Team Collaboration - If a team is stuck or hesitant, facilitators can ask probing questions to stimulate discussion or present teams with new information to prompt action.

Manage Time Effectively - Facilitators must ensure that the simulation remains on track and should challenge participants to make decisions in a timely manner, mirroring the pressures of a real-world event.

Create Safe Space for Errors - Participants should feel comfortable taking risks and potentially making mistakes, as these moments can lead to valuable learning outcomes.

Document Everything - Designate an individual or team responsible for documenting decisions and decision rationale. This documentation will be invaluable when debriefing, as well as for proof of exercise.