The Tabletop Exercise

A Tabletop Exercise is a facilitated, group analysis of an emergency situation in an informal, stress-free environment. The Tabletop Exercise is designed for examination of operational plans, problem identification, and in-depth problem solving. There are basically two types of tabletop exercises -- simple and enhanced.

A Simple Tabletop Exercise

A simple tabletop exercise is a facilitated analysis of a specific situation held in an informal setting. It is designed to elicit constructive discussion as participants examine and resolve problems based on existing operational plans and identify where those plans need to be refined. The success of the exercise is largely determined by group participation in the identification of problem areas. There is minimal simulation in a tabletop exercise. Equipment is not used, resources are not deployed, and time pressures are usually not introduced. This is the simplest type of exercise to conduct in terms of planning, preparation, and coordination.

Resource: 8 Rules for Conducting a Crisis Management Tabletop Exercise

The Enhanced Tabletop Exercise

An enhanced tabletop exercise is an interactive exercise that helps test the capability of an organization to respond to a realistically simulated crisis. The exercise tests multiple aspects of an organization’s operational and communication plans. It demands from participants a coordinated response to a crisis in a time-pressured, realistic simulation that involves several departments within an organization. An enhanced tabletop exercise focuses on the coordination, integration, and interaction of an organization’s plans, policies, procedures, roles, and responsibilities before, during, and after the simulated event. It places heavy emphasis on communication among all the departments and/or stakeholders participating in the exercise. This type of exercise will require much more planning, preparation, and coordination than a simple tabletop exercise.

To a large extent, the value and benefit of an enhanced tabletop exercise comes from bringing representatives from all of the stakeholder roles together to participate in the exercise. You can run an enhanced tabletop exercise without actual representatives present from all the various stakeholder groups that would inevitably be part of many crises. News media, government regulators, local law enforcement, whatever group or individual you choose to represent in the exercise can be filled by stand-ins -- individuals who are familiar with the mission of the missing stakeholder and can role play. It is recommended that you note during your after-action review that actions taken by the missing agency may have been different than those taken by the "stand-ins" during the course of the exercise.

FREE Download - The 5 Steps to Creating Crisis Simulation Tabletop Exercises