CONCEPTS
War Room
A dedicated physical or virtual space where incident responders coordinate during major incidents.
War Room
A dedicated physical or virtual space where incident responders coordinate during major incidents.
"The Eye of the Storm"
A War Room is where the team gathers to fight the fire. In the remote world, this means a Zoom link and a Slack channel (e.g., #inc-123).
Rules of Engagement
- Strict Discipline: Only relevant chatter. "I am checking the logs" (Good). "Wow, this is crazy" (Bad).
- Single Source of Truth: The Incident Commander (IC) speaks for the room.
- Scribe: Someone should be writing down what is happening (for the timeline later).
When to Open a War Room
- SEV0/SEV1: Always. Immediate video call.
- SEV2: Optional (Slack channel is usually enough).
- SEV3: Never.
ExThe Silent Zoom
"A team jumped on a Zoom call for a SEV1 but no one spoke for 10 minutes because they were debugging."
Impact
New joiners didn't know if work was happening. Executives panicked.
Resolution
The IC established a rule: "Status update every 15 minutes, even if the status is 'Still looking'."
Why War Room Matters
War rooms create focus and facilitate rapid communication during high-stakes incidents.
Even remote teams benefit from designated war room channels and video calls.
Common Pitfalls
Side Channels
Two engineers solving the problem in a private DM. This hides information from the group. Keep it public.
How to Use War Room
💬
Dedicated Channel: Slack channel for each incident.
📹
Video Call: Always-on video for coordination.
📊
Shared Dashboards: Everyone sees the same metrics.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should stakeholders be in the War Room?
They can listen (muted), but they must not interrupt. If they interrupt, the IC can kick them out.