You’ve seen it before. Halfway through a crisis simulation, the digital room starts to empty. Cameras off. People quietly log out. Your scenario might be solid – but if the engagement’s gone, the impact is too.
Welcome to The Great Resilience Exit.
Let’s unpack why participants drop off during simulations and how to create exercises that boost crisis simulation engagement from start to finish.
Why People Leave Crisis Simulations Early
Too Abstract
If the scenario feels academic or unrealistic, people tune out. Relevance is everything. They need to see how the crisis applies to their role—not someone else’s.
Not Everyone’s Crisis
When the scenario only focuses on one function (like IT or comms), others feel like extras in someone else’s movie.
Long and Unstructured
Three-hour sessions with slow pacing and vague prompts are a recipe for disengagement. People want structure, not improv theatre.
No Real Stakes
When actions don’t affect outcomes, people stop caring. Without a sense of urgency or consequence, it’s just another meeting.
How to Keep Them Hooked
1. Make It Personal
Design scenarios that touch everyone’s responsibilities. Even better? Show how bad decisions in one area ripple across the business. Cross-functional pain = cross-functional interest.
Try This: Add dynamic injects tailored to different departments. Let them see the consequence of inaction—or the reward of fast thinking.
2. Keep It Snappy
Think like a Netflix producer, not a policy wonk. Keep scenarios tight, fast-paced, and unexpected. Ditch the lecture – go live with action.
Try This: Use Microsimulations that run in under 25 minutes. Deliver them in bursts – when people can focus, not when they’re drowning in emails.
3. Introduce a Score
Gamify it. People love seeing how they rank – individually, as a team, or even against peers in the industry. A little healthy competition fuels participation.
Try This: Use readiness scoring to give teams real-time feedback on decisions and surface actionable insights.
4. Close the Loop
The fastest way to kill engagement? No follow-up. If people take time to show up, tell them what they did well, where they stumbled, and how they improved.
Try This: Auto-generate a mini after-action review with key takeaways and next steps personalized to each participant.
5. Make It a Habit, Not a Handoff
Resilience isn’t a quarterly checkbox. It’s a culture. Run smaller, more frequent simulations that fit into daily workflows, not just annual calendars.
Try This: Set up recurring bite-sized drills embedded in communication tools like Slack or Teams. Make practicing the norm, not the exception.
It’s Time to Rethink Engagement
Keeping people in the room – physically and mentally – comes down to relevance, rhythm, and reward. If simulations feel like another meeting with slides, you’ll keep losing them. But if they feel like something that actually prepares them for the real thing?
They’ll not only stay. They’ll come back asking for more.
