Introduction: What You’ll Learn
This simulation helps you handle a minor production glitch. You'll learn to keep your team composed, communicate clearly, and drive efficient problem-solving. The goal is to lead with clarity and confidence.
You’ll practice:
- Clear and calm communication
- Organizing and prioritizing tasks
- Quick, focused troubleshooting
- Ensuring clear follow-up actions
Step-by-Step Simulation
Scene 1: Initial Discovery
Facilitator: "Hey team, we’ve got reports of a small issue with user logins. Let's stay calm and handle this together. I'll coordinate our approach. Alex, have you had a chance to look into it?"
Alex: "Yeah, I've noticed some error spikes in the auth service logs. It's intermittent, affecting about 5% of login attempts."
Facilitator: "Good catch, Alex. Let's make this our top priority. Priya, can you team up with Alex to dig deeper into the logs? Check for any patterns or recent changes."
Scene 2: Organizing the Response
Facilitator: "While Alex and Priya are on that, let's cover other bases. Sara, can you have a look at the recent deployment history for any changes that might link to the issue?"
Sara: "Got it. I’ll check it out and let you know soon."
Facilitator: "Awesome. Leo, keep an eye on the service metrics and shout if you see anything odd."
Leo: "Will do. I'll monitor them closely."
Scene 3: Coordinating Communication
Facilitator: "Let's keep the communication clear with the stakeholders. I'll send out an update to the product team, letting them know what we’ve found and our next steps. We’ll keep it short and sweet."
(The team works on their tasks. After a bit, Priya and Alex have an update.)
Alex: "We found a traffic spike that matches the error times. It might be a bot attack causing these spikes."
Facilitator: "Nice work spotting that. Priya, can you start on rate limiting to handle the spike temporarily?"
Priya: "Sure thing. I’ll get on that right away."
Scene 4: Wrapping Up and Follow-Up
Facilitator: "Alright, team. Let's sum up where we are:"
- Rate limiting is in progress by Priya to handle the traffic spike.
- Sara didn't find any deployment issues, but we’ll keep an eye on things.
- Leo is monitoring the metrics for any changes.
- I'll update stakeholders with our findings and next steps.
Facilitator: "Great job, everyone. We’ll regroup in about an hour for a quick check-in. Keep an eye on Slack for updates. Thanks for staying focused and calm."
Mini Roleplay Challenges
Challenge 1: Sara suggests changing alert thresholds. What do you do?
- Best Response: “Let's take a closer look at whether the thresholds are too sensitive before making changes.”
Challenge 2: A team member seems stressed and distracted. What do you do?
- Best Response: “Let's pause for a moment to refocus and prioritize. We’re tackling this together.”
Challenge 3: Someone suggests rolling back without enough data. What do you do?
- Best Response: “Let's gather more info before deciding on a rollback. It's important to understand the root cause first.”
Optional Curveball Mode
- A stakeholder asks for a detailed report mid-investigation.
- A different issue is reported by the support team.
- The issue gets worse briefly before improving.
Practice handling these without losing focus on the main issue.
Reflection Checklist
Crisis Management
- Did I stay calm and composed?
- Did I organize the team’s response effectively?
Communication
- Did I keep stakeholders updated clearly and timely?
- Did I keep the team informed and aligned?
Problem Solving
- Did we find the root cause or plan further investigation?
- Were follow-up actions clear and assigned?
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Letting panic disrupt focus
- Failing to document actions and findings
- Overloading channels with unnecessary updates
- Neglecting stakeholder communication