Article written by Dani Andrews Leading an organization or a group of people requires both mental and emotional competence. When faced with difficult situations, one of the things excellent leaders should do is acknowledge the problem and inform their members. This is exhibited by top political and industry leaders in US history. For instance, the inaugural address…
At the end of your exercise, it is the time to gather information to be included in the After Action Report (AAR). To prepare the AAR, exercise evaluators analyze data collected from the hot wash, debrief, Participant Feedback Forms, and other sources (e.g., plans, policies, procedures, criteria developed for the exercise, standards within the industry,…
The “hot wash,” another term borrowed from the military, is the “after-action” discussions and evaluations of an organization’s performance immediately following an exercise/war game, training session, or an actual major event. Coming right on the heels of the exercise, people’s thoughts are fresh and insightful and are therefore highly valuable to the organization’s preparedness. In…
Exercise evaluators are provided a MSEL and will use it to assist in identifying events they must monitor closely. Evaluators should advise exercise controllers if they have not observed some expected action by the players. This activity will assist controllers in their exercise control function. Exercise evaluators analyze data collected from the Hot Wash, Participant…
How you deliver the exercise is important. Ensuring that everyone is engaged throughout the session and that they receive the best training experience is important. If there is external participation or need for observers to access the exercise, then using online tools or exercise applications should be considered. The exercise should be held in an…
During the course of the exercise, there will be times when an issue surfaces that cannot be resolved because of exercise time constraints. We define an “issue” as something whose resolution is important to the organization’s crisis or business continuity plan, but that cannot be resolved during the time available for the exercise. These issues…
The final exercise preparations are really about making sure your doing a rehearsal. It is your opportunity to do a dry run of your exercise to be sure everything is organized and in place. In this short video clip from the Crisis Coordinator Webinar Series, Rob Burton goes over the additional items on the final…
An important step in conducting a successful exercise is to ensure that final preparations are made and thoroughly checked before the start of the exercise. In this short video clip from the Crisis Coordinator Webinar Series, Rob Burton goes over the first few items on the final preparation check list. Do you have questions regarding exercise final…
Scenario security is important: It helps ensure that the participants react in a realistic way. The team preparing the exercise should not share information on the scenario with the players. The controllers and evaluators should know the scenario very well. Everybody else shouldn’t. Some people will have this urge to know the scenario in advance….
The saying “a picture paints a thousand words” has never been as true in the world of simulation exercises. The only difference is that it’s not just pictures that can create realism and keep participants engaged. It has never been easier to create simulation videos, audio recordings, manipulated images, simulated social media and much more….