Evaluating Coordination Under Pressure, Reflections from Exercise Te Tai Āniwhaniwha

On 20 November, Auckland Emergency Management delivered Exercise Te Tai Āniwhaniwha, a large-scale emergency management exercise designed to test Auckland’s response to a credible tsunami scenario. I was invited to participate as an Exercise Evaluator, focusing specifically on Civil Defence Centre (CDC) operations during the second day of the exercise.

The CDC phase of the exercise brought together a wide range of agencies and partners, including Auckland Emergency Management, regional councils, SPCA, police, security providers, and other external stakeholders. This stage of response is where coordination becomes most visible, and most complex. Decisions made upstream translate directly into how people are received, supported, and cared for on the ground.

My role as an evaluator was to observe how the CDC functioned as a system. This included assessing how roles were understood across agencies, how information flowed between partners, and how operational decisions were translated into practical outcomes for people arriving at the centre. The focus was not on individual performance, but on how well the collective response operated under simulated pressure.

What became clear very quickly is that multi-agency coordination is as much about relationships and clarity as it is about plans and procedures. When agencies have a shared understanding of purpose, clear lines of responsibility, and effective communication channels, the system moves with confidence. Where these elements are less clear, friction appears, even when everyone involved is skilled and committed.

The second day of the exercise simulated the first sustained operational period following impact. This is a critical window in any emergency, when fatigue begins to set in, handovers occur, and external partners become more deeply embedded in response operations. Evaluating the CDC at this point provided valuable insight into how well systems support continuity, decision making, and coordination over time.

The evaluation framework required observations to be recorded against agreed objectives and performance indicators, allowing strengths, partial successes, and areas for improvement to be identified in a structured and evidence-based way. This approach supports learning without blame and provides a strong foundation for post-exercise reporting and continuous improvement.

A key component of the day was the hot debrief following exercise play. These sessions create space for rapid reflection, enabling participants from different agencies to share perspectives, surface challenges, and identify practical improvements while experiences are still fresh. In my experience, these conversations are often where the most meaningful learning occurs.

Serving as an evaluator reinforced why I am drawn to work at the intersection of operations, coordination, and system learning. Effective emergency management is not only about having capable people and good intentions. It depends on how well systems support collaboration, decision making, and adaptation under pressure.

For organisations operating in complex, high-stakes environments, the ability to critically examine how systems perform, and to learn from practice, is essential. This is the type of work I am motivated by, supporting organisations to strengthen preparedness, improve coordination, and ultimately deliver better outcomes for communities when it matters most.