Lab Guide — Sensitive-Meeting Device Policy

Facilitated exercise · 40 minutes · Fictional sensitive board meeting

What this lab is

Your group designs a mobile and device-custody policy for a fictional sensitive board meeting. The output is a short, enforceable policy you could adapt for real meetings. The discipline — not the technology — is the point.

The brief

The meeting

A board convenes to discuss a highly sensitive matter. Attendees include directors, two aides, and an external adviser. The room is in a hotel conference centre. Phones, laptops, and a smart-display are all present by default.

Part A — Devices in the room (15 min)

Custody rules

Which devices are allowed in? Which stay out?
For those excluded, where do they go and in what state (off vs powered-down vs screened)?
Who enforces the rule, and how, without making trusted people feel accused?

Part B — The environment (15 min)

Room & network

What do you assume about the hotel network and any in-room smart devices?
What is your rule for note-taking, recording, and the external adviser's device?

Part C — Exceptions (10 min)

Reality check

Someone must be reachable for a family emergency. Write the exception that preserves security without becoming a loophole everyone uses.

✓ Self-check: your policy distinguishes "off" from "absent," names an enforcer, assumes the environment is hostile, and has a narrow, defensible exception rather than a blanket one.