How it works
HotSeat HQ gives a facilitator everything needed to run a realistic crisis exercise for a crisis management team: the story, the clock, the surprises and the record.
Four steps
- Set up onceAdd your people and their crisis roles, sites, key systems, suppliers and plans. The regulators for your sector and state are matched for you.
- Plan the exercisePick a scenario, the team's maturity and how long you have. You get a run plan you can review and change.
- Run it liveThe projector shows the room what is happening, you steer from a private control screen, and the scribe logs decisions and actions.
- DebriefEverything that happened becomes a debrief you can print, save as a PDF or export as a spreadsheet, and a playbook to keep for a real incident.
Who sees what
- The roomA projector or TV shows the scenario clock and each new piece of information as it arrives. People joining remotely can follow through screen sharing.
- The facilitatorA private control screen shows what's coming next, lets you jump time forward, release a curveball or adjust the plan on the fly, and tracks the milestones the team reaches.
- The scribeLogs decisions and actions with an owner and due time. The tool prompts for an update when an action falls due.
Three ways to run it
- SlidesSet it up here, then run it from the PowerPoint download. Afterwards, tick the milestones the team reached for a short debrief.
- Flying soloOne facilitator, no scribe. One screen for you (milestones first, quick notes and actions) plus the projector.
- Full teamSeparate facilitator, scribe and projector screens, with the full log and action board.
Ready-made scenarios
Each scenario is filled in with your organisation's own names, sites, systems, suppliers and regulators, and branches on what the team decides.
- RansomwareCriminals lock your systems, steal data and threaten to publish it unless a ransom is paid. Tests the decision on paying, regulators and keeping services going.
- Data breachCustomer records turn up for sale online, traced to a supplier. Tests notification, the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme and communications.
- Workplace siegeA staff member's former partner holds colleagues hostage at head office. Tests people safety, working with police and looking after staff.
- Work road crashTwo staff crash driving home from a regional job; one dies. Tests welfare, next of kin, safety regulators and the media.
- Severe weatherCyclone, flood or bushfire hits a site and its town. Tests warnings, people safety, recovery and keeping services going.
After the exercise
Everything that happened becomes a debrief you can print, save as a PDF or export as a spreadsheet. The team's steps become a playbook to keep for a real incident, and the next exercise checks the team against it.