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Scenario-Based Role Playing
Plans are made and training is done always with the best of intentions, and based on the best available information. We anticipate (and hope) that everything will work well, that we have planned for all possible contingencies, and that people will behave as expected. All of these assumptions need to be tested to make sure they conform to reality.
One of the most important ways to test what we believe will happen is through scenario-based role playing. Role playing can vary from the basic practice of fire drills, to intricate scenarios that probe every aspect of an organization and last for an extended period of time. While scenario-based role playing can be an important training tool for any part of an organization, it is particularly important in areas that effect the existence of the organization.
Areas involving vulnerability management particularly lend themselves to scenario-based role playing. Indeed, if you make a list of bad things that could happen, or incidents which could have a bad effect on your organization, then you should have plans to deal with these events, and run real-time scenarios in which all contingencies are tested.
Scenario-based role playing has many benefits:
- It allows you to see what works in your plans;
- It allows you to locate flaws in your plans, and items which you have overlooked or misestimated;
- It allows you to integrate your corporate communications department and PR agency into the process, a common oversight;
- It allows your people to prepare for an actual incident;
- It allows you to solidify interpersonal behavior under stress;
- It allows your personnel to bond in a manner they cannot do in a low-stress environment;
- It can be designed in such a way as to not disrupt your flow of business.
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