Alhamdulillah, had the privilege of representing PETRONAS, role-playing as Incident Commander (IC) for our Emergency Management Team (EMT) on duty throughout this Table Top exercise roleplaying for the exercise. The event participated by all major government agencies in Bintulu/ Sarawak who are equally responsible for emergency response & preparedness, simulating a crisis Situation under Arahan MKN No. 18 (PENGURUSAN DAN PENGENDALIAN KRISIS KEGANASAN, @ Act Terrorism).
When the word "Table Top Exercise" was mentioned, I immediately got the impression that it was like the Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) table-top Role Playing Game, where a Dungeon Master played the role of churning out scenarios and storylines and triggering the players, what will they do in the situation. Turns out, that's exactly what it is 😂.
Tuan Alif from MKN was our Dungeon Master, trigger "what to do" when different situations arise. And wow, this guy is good. He really put us under PRESSURE, man!
It was an awesome learning experience for me, for our organization, for all stakeholders on the effectiveness of our response coordination, revealing a lot of learning opportunities and rooms for improvement.
Here are three of my big lessons learnt from the exercise:
1. Tactical Communication
During a crisis situation, EVERYONE wants updates: leadership team at the center, next of kin, mainstream media, and pretty much anyone who wants a shot at "going viral" on social media. Who should you respond to? HOW should you respond?
It's important to know WHO are your primary recipients of information. By extension: Everyone else is irrelevant. Learn to filter the noise, know how to respond respectfully, and stay focused.
Also, turns out that what you DON'T say is sometimes just as important as what you DO say.
Keep communications simple, and stick to the facts, without adding opinions, speculation or story. And, as much as it is important to convey as much information as possible, it's important to keep only facts which are relevant to the stakeholders around you, so that they know exactly how to respond.
2. Have your go-to SOP References ready - and a great team to back you up
Having comprehensive SOPs really gave us the confidence to make decisions as a coordinated team. Yes, real life situations almost always call for improvisations - but we always have foundational fall-back plans, and correct ourselves as we go.
3. Remain Calm
Finally and most importantly: Remain calm. All the above can be completely thrown out of the window if we are emotionally compromised.
This was "just" a table top exercise, but boy, was that stressful! Being put on the spotlight: "okay, IC - now the situation has escalated to so-and-so. What will you do? How will you respond? Who will you contact?"
The key to making sure we make rational, good decisions, is to keep our emotions in check so we can think straight. Be firm, bue decisive, but keep it steady. When you're playing the role of a leader, as IC, this emotional stability is important to inspire OTHERS around us to also keep steady.
But of course, it's easier said than done. I'm grateful for those who gave positive feedback of how well I did and how calm I was. Though, truth be told, i was absolutely exploding with panic deep inside LoL.
Truthful indeed are the words of our Prophet ﷺ who said, "true strength isn't in overcoming others by physical strength. True strength is controlling ourselves when we are in a state of anger" (Al-Bukhari)
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