Tabletop Exercises as an Event Training Tool

(Editors note - this picture has absolutely nothing to do with the the contents of this article. However, I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to throw a little “Simpsons” into the mix)

When it comes to executing live events, nothing is as important as having a informed and well-trained event staff. All other operational elements may be in place and running smoothly, but one misstep by an eager but unknowledgeable staff member can create chaos, trigger a customer service nightmare, or in the event of an emergency situation, place your guest’s lives at risk. As event managers, it’s our duty to train our staff well, and to ensure that they are competent in the appropriate response procedures. However, our responsibility for their understanding should not simply end once the book closes on their initial training. We must also ensure that they retain this information, and are able to accurately recall and utilize what they’ve learned in a real-life situation. One method which I have found works extraordinarily well in testing an employee’s knowledge retention is the use of tabletop exercises to simulate potential situations your event staff may encounter.

What is a tabletop exercise?

Although there are many variations of the tabletop exercise model, they all share the same general definition, structure and intent. At their core, they are a facilitated, systematic form of role-play that use hypothetical scenarios to facilitate group discussion and problem solving. The intent of the tabletop exercise is to test some aspect of an organization’s operation, such as a participant’s knowledge of an particular process, a facility’s emergency response plan, or the event operations program as a whole.

Tabletop exercises are guided by a facilitator, who releases aspects of each scenario to an assembled group of employees so that it plays out in “real time”. These include establishing the primary scenario being addressed, outside influences that affect the the situation, and the corresponding environmental and social conditions. The participants then discuss how they would respond to the primary scenario given the established conditions, and how they should work together to achieve a successful resolution to the problem addressed. As they do so, the facilitator guides the group, maintains focus on the core objectives, and answers any clarifying questions the participants may have. The facilitator may also take notes on how the group interacts or any areas of concern they may have. They should not actively influence the group’s response beyond keeping them focused on the primary objective of the drill (An outside observer may be used for additional input, which is recommended if resources are available). At the conclusion of the tabletop exercise, the facilitator (and observer if present) will meet briefly to go over their notes. The group will then reconvene and conduct a debriefing, where the facilitator can go over the exercise, discuss the group’s performance, and offer suggestions on how to improve the participants response if necessary.

What are the benefits of tabletop exercises?

The benefits of including tabletop exercises into your event’s training and operations plan are numerous. They allow for the testing of your event team’s reasoning, communication, and problem-solving skills in a simulated environment, before they may confront a similar situation in the field. This interactivity is usually far more effective in teaching and reinforcing a correct employee response than traditional testing. Conducting a tabletop exercise will allow you to observe your team’s recall of trained protocols and procedures, which may help you identify potential weaknesses in your current training program. Not insignificantly, for all their practical training benefits, tabletop exercises are also easier to develop, plan, and execute than full-scale exercises, and use far fewer physical and financial resources.

How can tabletop exercises can help with your event operations program?

To date, tabletop exercises have been used primarily by public safety and emergency management agencies to test responses to unpredictable situations (earthquakes) or those in which a full-scale exercise would cause undue community disruption (hostage situations). However, there are many aspects of your event operations that can be effectively tested using tabletop exercises, as well. A sampling of these may include:

• Your severe weather response plan - how should your employees respond if severe weather strikes during your outdoor event?


• Event cancellation and evacuation - Your primary act just cancelled at the last minute, leaving you with thousands of angry guests demanding a refund. How should your team respond?


• Stampede/crush/crowd control situations - The stage lights went down, and now everyone is returning to their seats at the same time. The crowd stops moving, and people are angry and panicked. Now what?


• Mass egress/parking situations - The show is over, cars are leaving, and there’s an accident on the main road out of your facility. People are angry, possibly intoxicated, and have access to a 2000 pound weapon. What do you do?


• Lost child - You’re holding an event, and there’s a lost child, a vague description, and a hysterical parent. How should your team react? What if this was an event for children with thousands of kids present?


• Mass medical - Imagine you’re holding a large music festival on a hot day. Heat related illnesses begin to overwhelm your temporary medical facilities. How do you handle the influx of casualties?


• Media incidents - The media can be your event’s greatest ally - until something goes wrong. Media situations can be some of the toughest for an event team to respond to...does yours know how?


• Mock events - The structure of a typical event can make it the perfect candidate for a tabletop exercise. After all, an event is little more than a series of individual yet interconnected situations played out in sequence. Nothing says you can’t tabletop your entire event BEFORE it actually occurs, from gate opening to show close.

Developing your tabletop exercise

Now that we’ve discussed some ways in which tabletop exercises can be integrated into your event staff training program, here are some things to keep in mind as you develop your exercise program:

• Have a specific situation (and response) in mind - Without knowing exactly what you’re looking for in regards to a team response, it’s difficult to gauge how well they performed. If you are unsure yourself, then make sure you develop your response program and train your staff in it before conducting a tabletop exercise.


• If you can afford it (financially or otherwise), have a two-person exercise team consisting of both a facilitator and an outside observer - The outside observer can focus and report on the team’s performance, leaving the facilitator to guide the actual exercise.


• Details are everything - the more developed your hypothetical scenario is, the more accurate and insightful your team’s response is going to be. Be vivid...you want to create as much realism in their heads as possible.


• Be creative, yet realistic - although you certainly want to test your employee’s response to the unexpected, simulating a martian invasion may not be the best way to go about it. Stick with things they’re more likely to encounter.


• Time your exercise - Although you should allow enough time for proper discussion and decision making, you still want to apply a bit of pressure to the situation. Limiting the action/decision time to a few minutes per phase is recommended.


• Be flexible - No matter how well you’ve scripted your scenario, the group discussion may venture into unexpected areas. Allow them to do so within reason (uncharted territory is where the magic often happens), but be sure to bring things back on track before you lose control of your exercise.


• Guide, don’t lead - Your group should be controlling the action of the situation through their responses. Unless they appear to be truly stumped as to their next step, don’t intervene and give them the answer simply to keep things moving. Instead, rephrase the last input to your situation, giving them just a bit more insight as to the response you’re looking for.


• Manage your group size - Getting a large group of people to come to consensus on anything is extremely difficult. Keep the number of people in your exercise reasonable - I recommend no more than 2 people per discipline per exercise (such as two security team leads, two guest services staff, two parking staff, etc).


• Make sure you have the right tools - a short list of items to bring may include a whiteboard (to illustrate movement if necessary), notepads/pens, site maps, and a timer.

As you can see, developing and executing an tabletop exercise program can be a herculean task, and there are many different ideas and concepts not covered in this discussion. However, they are well worth the investment in both time and resources. Tabletop exercises are an excellent means of augmenting your training program, testing an employees concept retention, and identifying weak points in your operation. If you’d like further ideas or assistance on designing an exercise program for your event staff or facility, feel free to leave a comment, or contact me directly.