Shelter-in-Place for General Business

Shelter-in-Place Tabletop Exercise for General Business

This exercise is part of our catalog of tabletop exercises for general business.

Scenario Overview

Participants work as the management team of a fictional organization in a fictional office building when a sudden explosion shakes the facility and a news report announces that all area buildings must immediately shelter in place. With little warning and limited information, the workplace is thrust into a tense and uncertain situation.

As the incident develops, chaos spreads among employees and guests. Occupants become unsettled and angry, radiation is reportedly detected nearby, and some people require medicine or other urgent support. Leadership must make difficult decisions about how to keep employees and guests safe, maintain control of the site, and respond to evolving conditions while everyone remains confined inside.

This exercise challenges business leaders to handle a prolonged shelter-in-place emergency involving occupant needs, access control, building operations, and communications in a high-pressure environment.

Why This Scenario Matters for General Business

Businesses are responsible for maintaining safe, functional environments for employees, guests, vendors, and critical operations. A shelter-in-place order can immediately affect building access, occupant safety, security posture, and the ability to maintain operations inside the workplace.

This exercise helps leadership teams evaluate how they would respond when an external threat forces occupants to remain in place for an extended period, requiring strong coordination across life safety, access control, communications, and day-to-day operations.

Exercise Objectives

  • Evaluate leadership decision-making during a building-wide shelter-in-place emergency.
  • Discuss access control, occupant management, and workplace security during a prolonged incident.
  • Review occupant support needs, including medical and special assistance requirements.
  • Assess communications with employees, guests, responders, and stakeholders.
  • Examine how building operations are maintained during restricted movement and heightened tension.
  • Identify opportunities to improve shelter-in-place planning, emergency coordination, evacuation decision-making, and operational resilience.

Typical Participants

  • Executive leadership
  • Operations management
  • Facilities leadership
  • Human resources
  • Security or safety personnel
  • Communications or public affairs staff
  • Business continuity or crisis management team members

Exercise Format

Conduct-It-Yourself Tabletop Exercises are structured, discussion-based simulations designed to help organizations test their response to disruptive events without the time and cost of a fully facilitated exercise. Participants are placed in the middle of a realistic scenario as it unfolds and must work through decisions, priorities, and consequences as a leadership team.

Each downloadable exercise package includes everything needed to conduct the session internally, including facilitator instructions, exercise overview materials, participant forms, a detailed scenario script, and a ready-to-run PowerPoint presentation that guides the scenario and discussion. The materials are designed so organizations can conduct the exercise as delivered or customize the storyline and supporting materials to reflect their own operations, facilities, and planning objectives.

Most exercises are designed to be conducted in approximately 2 to 4 hours. A typical agenda includes an exercise overview and scenario briefing, the facilitated disaster simulation discussion, group review and preparation for debriefing, and a structured post-exercise discussion to capture lessons learned and improvement opportunities.

Exercise Focus

  • Emergency Response
  • Shelter-in-Place
  • Evacuation
  • Building Operations

Related Tabletop Exercise Scenarios

Organizations exploring this scenario may also find these exercises useful:

Looking for a Facilitated Exercise for Your Business?

Many organizations choose to run their exercises with an experienced facilitator to guide discussion, introduce evolving scenario developments, and capture improvement opportunities.

If you would prefer a professionally facilitated tabletop exercise tailored to your business, learn more about our consulting services.

Explore Facilitated Tabletop Exercises for General Business

Purchase & Download

This exercise is delivered as a downloadable package that includes facilitator instructions, scenario materials, and structured discussion prompts to guide the exercise.

SKU CIYGB004
$595.00