BACKGROUND EXERCISE DOCUMENTS CHAPTER 4 BACKGROUND EXERCISE DOCUMENTS An integral part of each exercise is the creation and maintenance of plentiful supporting documents. The documents are intended to pull participants into the game as much as possible, to ensure realism, and to help players understand the exercise concept and its purpose. Having interesting and clear supporting documents increases the chances of keeping trainees highly tuned to the exercise. These documents can be designed to be fun and engaging, but their primary message should remain to push target groups toward developing solutions to given tasks. In general, there are several handouts that may be considered; some are required, some are optional. How much of which are required always depends on the exercise concept, type and the complexity. Supporting documents to be considered for exercise attendees and designers, in order to keep a desirable exercise flow:      situation manual providing basic information, exercise purpose and objectives, initial narrative, geopolitical synopsis, list of actors (handed out day/several hours in advance to give participants enough time for familiarization); instructions and exercise walk-through; exercise timeline; methods and principles of scoring (if the exercise is scored); frequently asked questions (available for the exercise supporting team not involved in the planning stage);             other practical information2; technical documentation (incident reports, technical environment description, user instruction manual in case of hacked devices, topology – more typical for technical exercises); supporting slides telling the story via injects (however, this is not supposed to be a lecture, keep the flow clear and try not to distract the audience by using too many notes/slides); answer sheets (for evaluation purposes, keep a coherent numbering system of questions and answers); exercise news portal (electronic)/printed newspapers; numbers/names of the teams (ready to be put on the table); list of the training audience/teams; opening videos (to grab training audience’s attention, to emphasize, and repeat the main rules); exercise agenda (are there any designated coffee breaks or not? What time/day is the hot-wash? – a clear and strict timetable will help visitors better plan their business trip); final evaluation questionnaire for participants (given after exercise completion to get as much feedback as possible); evaluation presentation (or template ready to be used for a final evaluation briefing); other documents, as desired. Situation manual and practical information create a useful package, which serves as one of the hands-on materials. Thus, it should be available for all participants during the entire game. 2 17/29