Key Person Risk Tabletop Exercise: A 45-Minute Workshop
Test key person risk by making a critical approver unavailable during a time-sensitive business decision. Require the team to identify an authorized substitute, locate essential records, and explain what can proceed while an approval gap remains unresolved.
How do you test key person risk in a tabletop exercise?
Remove a critical decision-maker from a fictional scenario and ask the team to complete one urgent workflow. Test three separate requirements: someone knows what to do, has authority to decide, and can access the records needed to act.
For Q4 2026 offsites, use the upcoming year-end leave roster to choose the missing role. A useful output is a documented backup arrangement with its limits and an owner responsible for checking that it works.
FEMA distinguishes orders of succession from delegations covering specific duties and limits. Use that distinction to challenge the assumption that naming a substitute automatically resolves every approval gap. [FEMA Continuity Guidance Circular, 2024 update](https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_continuity-guidance-circular_082024.pdf).
Prepare the fictional approval bottleneck
A shipment will miss a customer deadline unless the team approves an alternate carrier before today's booking cutoff. The operations director and usual finance approver are unavailable until tomorrow; the operations deputy can change routing but cannot approve additional spending.
The carrier quote and customer agreement exist in a shared workspace, but nobody has checked whether the deputy can open them. These are exercise assumptions; substitute a familiar workflow and provide the relevant approval rules before starting.
- Invite operations, finance, customer service, and an executive who understands the approval structure.
- Assign a facilitator to release updates and a recorder to capture decisions and unresolved dependencies.
- Provide a mock customer commitment, carrier quote, approval matrix, and backup contact list.
- Keep decisions simulated; record any access checks that need verification afterward.
Compare the available decision paths
Ask participants to select a path for each action, rather than treating the entire shipment as one approval. Preparing a booking, approving its cost, and promising a delivery date may require different authority.
| Decision path | When it fits | Constraint |
|---|---|---|
| Act within an existing delegation | A documented substitute has authority for this specific action | Check spending limits, conditions, and whether the delegation is active. |
| Escalate to another authorized approver | The action exceeds the deputy's authority | Confirm the alternate has the relevant authority and can respond before the cutoff. |
| Pause the commitment and prepare alternatives | No authorized approval is available in time | Accept the likely delay and tell the customer what remains unconfirmed. |
Run the 45-minute exercise
Use these suggested timings. At each decision, require the team to name the action, accountable person, source of authority, and next review time.
- Minutes 0–5: brief the scenario and identify the decisions needed before the booking cutoff.
- Minutes 5–15: locate the applicable delegation and choose an initial path. List which records the substitute needs.
- Minutes 15–25: reveal that the deputy cannot open the quote folder. Ask who can arrange approved access and what preparation can continue meanwhile.
- Minutes 25–35: reveal that the customer requests a firm delivery promise and the alternate finance approver remains unreachable. Draft a response and decide what happens at the cutoff.
- Minutes 35–45: debrief the authority, access, and communication gaps; assign follow-up actions.
Verify the backup and rehearse the handover
Check whether participants relied on a documented permission or merely assumed a senior colleague could approve. Separate missing authority from missing knowledge or access, because each requires a different fix.
Give each gap an owner, due date, and closure evidence: an approved delegation, a successful access check using a test document, or a substitute completing the workflow in a short replay.
Finish with the absent leader returning. Require a handover stating decisions made, commitments outstanding, and when temporary authority ends; naming a backup is only the start of continuity planning.
Frequently asked questions
Is this the same as a succession planning exercise?
This workshop tests immediate operational coverage during an absence. Longer-term succession planning addresses who could fill a role permanently and how to prepare them. Someone may be a potential successor without currently holding approval authority.
Can a small team run this exercise?
Yes. Use one familiar workflow and combine participant roles where necessary, while keeping a facilitator to release updates. If the exercise reveals that only one person can approve or access something essential, record that dependency and assign a concrete follow-up.
Run this as a real exercise
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