RAID, the elite French national Police unit, took part in the theme of crisis management during a simulation on the GLOBAL Executive MBA courses at NEOMA last March.

Whatever their professional background, the participants on the Global Executive MBA (GEMBA) at NEOMA join the programme with one aim in mind: to move towards a role where they will be managing large teams. Throughout the GEMBA course, classes on the basics of management will run alongside seminars devoted to leadership and the soft skills needed to attain this objective.

Role-play: managing an attack on a hospital

The participation of RAID was devoted to crisis management and negotiation, and was led by a police officer, a Commandant of the military staff of RAID.

During the day, participants were involved in a role-play concerning an attack on a hospital. After each person had been given a role, head of operations, information officer or negotiator, their mission was to find a way to manage the crisis.

With regular intervention and advice from the high-powered contributor, the GEMBA participants learned by doing, sometimes making mistakes but learning a huge amount as they went along.

Crisis management: joint work and a methodical approach

For one GEMBA graduate invited to take part in the seminar, the main lesson of the day can be summed up in three words: Objectives, Strategy and Means, which must always be implemented in that order to be effective.

Mylène, who joined the GEMBA programme last October, discovered “that it is essential to define the crisis, share information, provide direction and reassure the various stakeholders. I also realised the importance of clearly defining each person’s role, sticking to these roles and not trying to take the place of someone else.”

The day concluded with a very instructive feedback session which enabled everyone to take home one final lesson on the importance of the methodology to be adopted in a crisis and which can be summed up like this: approve each stage before moving on to the next one, surround yourself with good people at the right time and ensure everyone knows the role they have to play, adapt your language to the people you are addressing and show empathy.

According to Olivier Lefaivre, Director of the Business Unit Global Executive MBA, “the exercise brings a high level of added value to the programme because the participants will be able to apply what they have learned on this day to any crisis that arises in their future post.”