Trials by Fire: Lessons From a Crisis Simulation

When chaos strikes, will your team rise to the challenge? That was the question we set out to answer during a recent hybrid crisis simulation for a financial services client. The scenario started with a small spark —a simulated fire—that rapidly raged into a full-blown operational crisis. With half the participants on-site and the rest online, the exercise tested not only their processes but also their ability to collaborate across formats.

The goal wasn’t to extinguish the flames but to see how the team contained the blaze. Would their processes prove fireproof under pressure? Here’s how it all unfolded.

Igniting the Spark: Crafting the Scenario

Designing a crisis simulation begins with understanding the client’s unique needs and challenges. Every organisation operates differently, so crafting the right scenario requires collaboration with the client to ensure alignment with their risk profile and operational priorities. These can range from natural disasters like flooding, to cyberattacks compromising critical systems, or reputational crises triggered by service disruptions.

For this simulation, we tailored the scenario to create severe but plausible disruptions that would push their Silver and Gold Crisis Management Teams (CMTs) to their limits. This ensured the exercise tested critical areas such as decision-making frameworks, communication strategies, and cross-functional collaboration.

Turning Up the Heat: A Scenario Built for Complexity

Every element of this exercise was carefully designed to test both the operational focus of the Silver team and the strategic oversight of the Gold team.

Here’s what we threw at them:

• Displaced staff: Evacuated to the car park, staff were unable to access their workspaces, disrupting operations.
• Branch systems went down: Connectivity issues spread across locations, impacting essential services.
• Important Business Services (IBS) failed: Customers couldn’t access vital services, exacerbating service disruptions.
• IT / Customer Services Overloaded: Both teams faced a deluge of complaints and requests, revealing resource allocation bottlenecks.
• Social media ignited: Customers and staff shared frustrations online, amplifying reputational risks.
• Media inquiries escalated: News outlets demanded answers, escalating scrutiny of the company’s response.

Every twist in the scenario was intentional, forcing the teams to prioritise under pressure while navigating both operational and reputational fallout.

Containing the Blaze: Strengths Under Pressure

Once I stepped into the role of facilitator, my job shifted from creating the storyline to bringing it to life. It was my responsibility to keep the exercise immersive and challenging while allowing the teams to take the lead in problem-solving. This meant carefully observing how the teams navigated the scenario, identifying areas where they needed additional information, and strategically timing “events” to escalate the storyline. These events—a sudden media inquiry, a new twist in the crisis, or a critical update—were designed to mirror the unpredictability of real crises without steering the team too directly.

What stood out was how the CMTs handled the challenges, balancing a mix of urgency and strategic thinking. As a facilitator, it was rewarding to see how a well-designed simulation could push teams to their limits, exposing vulnerabilities while also highlighting their strengths.

	Quick Activation of Procedures: The Silver team wasted no time. They initiated their crisis protocols immediately, prioritising communication and assessing the scope of the issue.
	Smart Escalation Strategies: The Silver team followed a structured “inform, notify, escalate” framework, ensuring the Gold team was brought in when needed—neither too early nor too late. This kept the focus sharp across both levels.
	Immersive Engagement: What impressed me most was how fully both the Silver and Gold CMTs committed to the exercise. They treated it like a real crisis, making decisions with intention and staying in character throughout.
	Strong Leadership Collaboration: The chairs of the Silver and Gold teams maintained alignment, ensuring operational issues didn’t derail strategic focus.

Where the Sparks Flew: Lessons Learned

No simulation is perfect—nor should it be. The goal is to uncover gaps and use those insights to improve. Here’s where the pressure revealed opportunities for growth:

	Decision-Making Bottlenecks: One major pain point within both the Silver and Gold teams was the absence of a dedicated crisis coordinator. This left the Chairs to juggle critical decision-making and process management. This dual responsibility proved overwhelming, causing delays and inefficiencies. A crisis coordinator would relieve the Chairs of operational tasks, ensuring updates are shared efficiently, processes run smoothly, and decisions are made faster.
	Unaligned Sub-Teams: During the exercise, sub-teams formed naturally, but they didn’t align with critical business functions like IT, Property, or People. This led to scattered updates and disjointed actions, highlighting the need for clear functional roles in a crisis.
	Communication Gaps: Despite having predefined templates for internal and external messaging, the communication teams didn’t refer to these during the crisis. Instead, this oversight led to delayed communications and increased reputational risks as they scrambled to control the media narrative. Ensuring familiarity and actively utilising these resources during a crisis is critical to maintaining control and reducing response time.
	Disconnects in Operational Resilience: While the team considered resilience, they didn’t always connect their actions to impact tolerance thresholds. For example, delays in IT recovery weren’t used to reprioritise other critical activities, risking compliance issues. Connecting decisions to resilience metrics is crucial for a coordinated response.

Tempering Resilience in the Face of Fire

For financial services, crisis simulation exercises are vital for meeting regulatory requirements such as the FCA’s PS21/3 and PRA’s SS1/21. By March 2025, organisations must demonstrate their ability to remain operational during severe disruptions. Tailored simulations provide a practical way to meet these expectations while embedding resilience into the organisation’s culture.

While compliance is essential, the value of crisis simulations extends far beyond regulatory mandates. These exercises expose weaknesses, refine processes, and strengthen trust across teams. This simulation was one step in the client’s larger journey toward crisis management maturity. Building resilience isn’t a one-off effort—it’s a multi-year process that evolves through progressive education, training, exercising and testing.

In a world where disruptions are increasingly common, they help organisations anticipate challenges and protect their operations, reputation, and customer relationships. Financial institutions that can handle crises effectively not only retain trust but also differentiate themselves in the eyes of their customers.

Forged in Fire: Building Team Resilience

Watching the teams collaborate under fire reinforced one key truth: resilience isn’t about individuals—it’s about the strength of the team. From tackling technical failures to crafting strategic responses, every participant played a critical role in quelling the flames and controlling the crisis.

Simulations provide a safe environment to test these dynamics, ensuring Silver and Gold teams work seamlessly under pressure. By fostering collaboration and readiness, these exercises equip organisations to face future challenges with confidence.

Simulations don’t just reveal weaknesses; they provide a clear roadmap for improvement. And for me? I’m ready to turn up the heat in the next exercise, helping teams build the resilience they need to rise from the ashes—stronger and more prepared for whatever comes their way.

Are you ready to build your resilience? At DCR Partners, we know crisis management is a journey, not a destination. Whether you’re laying the groundwork or aiming for mastery, our tailored simulations can help you reach the next level.

Let’s build a more resilient future together. Contact us today.