What do you do if communication becomes chaotic in a large-scale event production?

Breathe, keep moving and review. Focus is what is needed. Go back to basics and trust the process. Avoid blame and don’t be afraid to lead.

We faced a major crisis when our single-channel walkie talkie system for all departments went down at a key venue. Security, maintenance, medical, and general communications were all disrupted, creating a severe safety hazard. To manage, we quickly moved everyone to cellphones and set up individual chats for each department. We then dispatched someone to find & fix the issue, which we eventually resolved. This led to a four-step procedure: 1. Quickly find and organize an alternative communication method. 2. Simultaneously fix the original method. 3. Conduct a post-mortem to prevent recurrence. The post-mortem lesson: keep critical department communications on separate channels for greater resilience.

The most important thing when we have chaos going on is to try to centralize information. The more direct and simple the messages, the easier it will be to coordinate teams. Remember that you need someone with a lot of agility, calm and experience to be the central coordination person or one of the main people in that position. Try to show others that you have everything under control and that your decisions are the best to solve the problem. The more confidence and security you show, the better the result will be. Reinforcement, simple language, if we are already in a bad situation the famous less is more will save a lot.

Let's assume we're doing a medium sized festival. Here's one way you could set up a resilient centralized control system: 1. Outline each department (maintenance, security, medical, ground ops, hospitality etc.) 2. Create a designated individual for each department for dispatching 3. Each department communicated with their dispatchers, and then dispatchers communicate with each other 4. The dispatchers are able to "bump up" issues to management if they cannot resolve the issue amongst each other. This system allows for the departments to flexibly use each other to solve problems quickly, through centralizing delegation. It also creates a way to involve management but efficiently if more pressing issues develop.

This is a decision that should be carefully thought out based on the type of event being executed. I recommend breaking down the key aspects of your event to be a success, and what departmental tasks could and should leverage technology to make the experience better. Once you have the list, the goal should be to find the most encompassing solution. Fragmented systems lead to operational breakdowns. You want to find the option that can handle all of your major needs in one first. Then take on any "extra" needs a la carte.

I agree that using tech wisely is key. Especially if you are onsite at a venue that is large and spread out. You may be on one end of the building while your team is on the other. Another layer of the tech piece is understanding the rules of engagement and how each platform should be used. If you have a question, how best to approach it. If you have something to share, does it need to go to the whole group. So on and so forth.