The world is confronted with escalating existential threats, spanning from war, cyber events, climate change, and disease to political and social unrest.
Considering these challenges, businesses must proactively prepare for global crises to fortify their resilience, ensure continuity, and uphold sustainability in the event of unforeseen disruptions that could profoundly impact their operations.
A critical initial step is evaluating whether your management and operational teams are effectively addressing these macro-level risks and whether they can adequately respond to and restore the business to its normal function swiftly.
GSA Global’s service offering is a structured process designed to help companies anticipate, respond to, effectively resolve, and recover from crisis situations. Conducting well curated, Tabletop Simulation Exercises can offer numerous benefits, preparing your team for unexpected events and strengthening your organisation’s resilience.
Our approach integrates risk management into the heart of the crisis management simulation. The scenarios are then crafted to test your crisis management protocols and identify any gaps in your preparedness. This ensures that your organisation can address the full spectrum of potential risks. We are able to offer either tailored scenarios or a set of core crisis scenarios to reflect the most pressing risks faced by your organisation.
Two new pieces of EU legislation should also be taken into consideration depending on your organisation:
- NIS Directive (Directive on Security of Network and Information Systems): This EU directive, along with its successor NIS2, aims to enhance cybersecurity across the EU by setting requirements for organisations to manage risks to their network and information systems and report incidents.
- DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act): This proposed regulation in the EU aims to ensure that financial organisations can withstand, respond to, and recover from all types of cyber incidents. It sets requirements for ICT risk management and incident reporting.
Goals
Our process is straightforward in its execution but is designed to meet three key goals:
- A Realistic and Stimulating Experience: Create an engaging and experiential crisis simulation that is inclusive, interactive, and, above all, captivating.
- Robust Leadership: In any crisis situation, the role of “Crisis Leader” can be dynamic, requiring different individuals to take charge at various stages.
- Effective Decision Making: One of the most critical processes in any crisis is decision making, which operates within a defined framework.
The Value of Crisis Management
- Preparedness and Response: Allows your team to practice their response to potential crises in a controlled environment.
- Identifying Gaps and Weaknesses: Simulations can reveal weaknesses in your
current crisis management plans and procedures. - Testing Communication Protocols: Help you test communication plans, ensuring that information flows smoothly and accurately.
- Building Team Cohesion: Promote teamwork and collaboration among employees, clarifying roles and responsibilities.
- Enhancing Decision-Making Skills: Simulating a crisis can improve decision-making skills under pressure.
- Fostering a Culture of Safety: Regularly conducting simulations demonstrates your
organisation’s commitment to safety and preparedness. - Compliance and Risk Management: Support compliance efforts and demonstrate due diligence to regulators and stakeholders.
- Stress Testing Plans: Against various scenarios, ensuring that your protocols and resources are adequate to handle potential crises.
- Feedback and Continuous Improvement: Discussion what worked well and what could be improved, fostering continuous improvement.
- Boosting Confidence and Assurance: Participants gain valuable experience which can boost their confidence to handle real crises effectively.
Technical Platform for Real-Time Engagement
We leverage a cutting-edge technical platform to deliver crisis simulations. The platform incorporates media materials, role-playing elements, and real-time decision-making tools to provide a highly interactive and engaging experience for participants.
Key features of the Platform:
- Customisable media feeds to simulate press and social media coverage.
- Real-time dashboards for collaborative decision-making and tracking.
- Documentation of participant decisions and actions for future review.
Anonymised After Action Review (AAR) Platform
Following the crisis simulation, we provide an anonymised After Action Review (AAR) platform. which allows participants to reflect on the exercise, submit candid feedback, and review the decisions made during the simulation without concern about personal attribution.
Key features of the AAR Platform:
- Anonymous feedback collection, fostering open discussions.
- Comprehensive insights into strengths and areas for improvement.
- Customisable reporting for in-depth performance analysis and recommendations.
- Ongoing Professional Development and Support