Unavailable files · Business continuity
The shared drive goes quiet
Your team cannot open shared files during a busy morning. Rehearse decisions, safe communication and how work continues while facts are incomplete.
20 minutes suggested · Four incident updates · One shared screen
Start this rehearsal →Watch the quick field guide
24-second visual guide · captions and transcript · no autoplay
Read the guidance transcript
Name what is affected. Read the fictional alert. Identify the business impact and what is still unknown; avoid jumping to a diagnosis.
Pick the next move. Compare recovery and communication options. Each choice changes the exercise narrative, not a real system.
Keep the room aligned. Use the timeline and decision log to agree one coordinator, one update and the next checkpoint.
Close the loop. Capture recovery assumptions and assign follow-up actions. Export the report so the learning outlives the meeting.
Who should be in the room?
Facilitator, Team lead, Operations, IT or support. These are discussion roles, not account invitations. One person records while the team talks.
What the team will practice
Nobody can open the folder
The cause is unknown. It could be an outage, a permissions problem or something more serious. Avoid assuming a diagnosis.
Discussion: Who coordinates the response, and what do you need to establish first?
A worrying screenshot
A potentially serious report arrives, but the extent and cause are unconfirmed. Staff are asking whether they should try fixes themselves.
Discussion: How will you communicate what staff should do while your designated support team investigates?
Work cannot wait forever
The team needs a temporary way to work. Backup availability and the most recent reliable data have not been confirmed.
Discussion: Which activities can continue safely, who approves the workaround, and what should customers be told?
The next update is due
Recovery timing is still unknown. Your team needs a clear communication rhythm and improvements to test after this discussion.
Discussion: What would you include in the update, and which readiness gaps should become follow-up actions?
What you’ll leave with
Your own recorded decisions, uncertainties and improvement actions with owners, dates and status. Print a readable report or export a browser-local session to revisit.
Original fictional content, not a technical response procedure. No real systems are changed. This exercise does not certify security readiness or compliance.
Read the facilitator guide →