A staff briefing pack brings together the current operational information people need for their event roles. Prepare it from approved sources and identify which instructions are confirmed, which apply to particular roles and who answers unresolved questions.
The pack supports a briefing; it does not prove that a person has understood every instruction or completed required induction, training or authorisation.
Start with the audience and role
Identify who will use the pack and what they need to do. Front-desk staff, a facilitator and an authorised technical contractor may need different information and access.
Do not include every internal document in a single attachment. Use an appropriate common summary and role-specific approved material, keeping sensitive information restricted.
The NSW Government’s event-day guidance discusses briefing arrangements and operational information such as a run sheet and site plan. Check the requirements of the actual event and venue.
Use a practical pack-content checklist
Include the relevant current information:
- Event summary: purpose, confirmed location and operational timing.
- Role brief: duties, limits and supervisor or contact.
- Run sheet: approved sequence and relevant dependencies.
- Site information: verified arrival points and approved routes or facilities.
- Communications: authorised channels, contact roles and backup arrangement.
- Service information: accurate guest instructions and access-enquiry route.
- Escalation: approved incident, safety and other reporting instructions.
- Version: owner, date and method for receiving changes.
Keep passwords, unnecessary personal details and restricted security instructions out of a widely circulated pack. Provide controlled access where specific staff need sensitive material.
A fictional role-specific extract
In this invented indoor workshop, the arrival team receives confirmed room information, the guest check-in arrangement and the contact for an unresolved booking or access enquiry.
The extract states that staff may explain the published arrival information but must refer a request to change the room allocation to the coordinator. It links the current run sheet and the approved reporting route for an incident.
It does not imply that arrival staff can grant access to a restricted area or approve an access arrangement outside their authority. No actual Games event or staffing arrangement is described.
Check understanding at the briefing
Walk through the role’s practical sequence and ask staff to identify the relevant contact for a plausible question. Invite clarification before the work begins and confirm access or communication arrangements.
Where the role requires formal instruction, assessment or induction, complete and record that process separately. A tick showing “pack emailed” is evidence of sending, not evidence of competence.
Identify how a late-arriving or replacement staff member will receive the current information and appropriate briefing. Do not assume another employee will fill the gap informally.
Maintain one authoritative version
Check names, locations, times and references before distribution. If information changes, issue an appropriate update and identify what it replaces. Remove stale operational copies through the approved process while retaining required records.
After the event, review questions that the pack did not answer and material that was unnecessary. A useful pack helps staff act within their role, find current information and refer uncertainty to the right person without creating unsupported authority through a document.
For a staff member’s view of the day, see major-event shifts, briefings and responsibilities alongside the approved role-specific pack.
