Cultivating a longitudinal learning process through recurring crisis management training exercises in twelve Swedish municipalities

Abstract

This study illustrates how crisis management capability is developed in series of recurring exercises, rather than in one single exercise. Over one hundred table-top and role-playing exercises were performed and evaluated in a longitudinal cross-case action research study in 12 Swedish municipalities. By consciously adapting training formats, municipalities were lead through three learning phases: obtaining role understanding (phase 1: knowing what to do), developing information management skills (phase 2: knowing how to do it), and mastering self-reflection in regular timeouts (phase 3: knowing when and why to do something). This final learning outcome, being able to concurrently execute, evaluate, and reorganize an ongoing crisis management performance, may be the most valuable capability of a crisis management organization when crisis strikes. K E Y W O R D Scrisis management,

Digitalizing Crisis Management Training

“…It supports all the phases in Salas et al, although it does not include functionality for the actual training assignments or exercises. By defining long-term goals and regarding training as a processes consisting of several training activities, as well as enabling reuse, T1 is well in line with the recommendations in van Laere and Lindblom [26]. The guidance of the process, the built-in support for training need analysis, etc., all provide a good foundation for improved quality (efficacy) as well as resource efficiency and doing the right things (effectiveness) (c.f.…”

“…Exercises also serve other purposes, such as testing the viability of the response network [19] the crisis management or disaster plan [18] or fostering relationships between key personnel [24]. Based on experiences from over a hundred exercises in twelve municipalities during a ten-year period, van Laere and Lindblom [26] argue for a continuous training pro-gram with recurrent exercises in various formats to spur the long-term development of an organization's crisis management capacity. They suggest three development phases: (1) obtaining role understanding; (2) developing skills and practices; and (3) mastering self-evaluation and adaption.…”

“…The individual crisis training tool (T2) can be mapped as a useful tool to support Phases 2, 4 and 5 in Salas et al [21]. It could thus be used to facilitate understanding of the (individual) role, something that van Laere and Lindholm [26] suggested to be a vital part of building up crisis management skills in organizations. The T2 tool offers good possibilities for increased individual training, i.e.…”

“…The crisis training tool for collaborative exercises (T3) mainly supports Phase 4 but also Phase 5 in Salas et al [21] and recurrent exercises/series of exercises, as recommended by van Laere and Lindblom [26]. Last but not least, a free and flexible tool such as this, offering distributed and asynchronous exercises, should increase the volume of training at a low cost, thus improving both efficacy and efficiency (c.f.…”

“…Other problems include inadequate assessment of the effectiveness of training, difficulties in defining a suitable training content, providing feedback, and transferring the lessons learnt to future crises [23]. Researchers have also identified a lack of systematic approach to training [28] and too little focus on longitudinal learning processes [26].…”