Desktop Crisis Management Exercises
Whenever plans are (re)written or new teams formed it is strongly recommended to begin the Exercise cycle with a ‘Desktop’. These exercises are typically designed to:
- Improve plan awareness
- Establish team norms
- Develop individual and collective Crisis Management skills
- Identify gaps in the plan.
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| Desktop Exercises normally run for anything from 1 - 3 hours, depending on the nature of the team to be exercised, and can be incorporated into a days overall training. Scenarios can be either generic or client-specific. |
Command Exercises
Once teams are well established and familiar with the plans, they are ready to progress to more challenging Crisis Management exercises. The Command Exercise involves exercising one or more teams using phone and email inputs generated by a live ‘Input Cell’. These exercises build on the lessons learnt from ‘Desktops’ and typically are designed to:
- Practise coordination with other teams and external agencies
- Familiarise participants with Crisis Command Centre layout, roles and routines
- Validate plans
- Help delegates understand their own and colleagues’ reactions to stressful situations.
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Exercises can run for anything from 3 hours to 1 day (involving shift changes as necessary) and would normally be based on a client-specific scenario. Feedback is usually delivered in a detailed written report covering the following topics:
- Individual performance
- Team dynamics
- Crisis Management structures
- Benchmarking against peer group or others
- Recommendations for plan development.
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Software-based Simulation Exercises
Based on our work for Gold Standard with Cabinet Office and Agusta Westland, Needhams 1834 is able to offer software-based simulations. Simulation exercises test Disaster Recovery infrastructure and systems as well as Crisis Management teams. They are particularly appropriate for delivering multi-agency exercises for the Emergency Services and other Category 1 responders, as well as practicing the response to complex business incidents. Compared with a Command Exercise, the Software-based Simulation has a number of advantages including:
- An added sense of realism as the scenario adapts dynamically to the decisions made by exercise participants
- A clear audit trail linking information received to decisions made
- Exercises can easily be delivered simultaneously across multiple sites.
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Live Simulation Exercises
The most realistic and demanding Crisis Management exercises involve staff actually invoking parts of the Business Continuity Plan, such as:
- Evacuating buildings
- Restoring IT systems from backups
- Performing automated tasks by hand
- Working from home
- Working from a Disaster Recovery site.
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| These exercises typically involve significant simulated media activity, including mock-up media reports, interviews and press conferences, and people factor issues. In the most advanced exercises, key stakeholders such as customers, suppliers, neighbours and the Emergency Services also take part. Given the cost of this sort of exercise, and the potential disruption to the organisation, it is not recommended to attempt a Live Simulation until plans and personnel have previously been thoroughly exercised and tested. |
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