“ An unbelievable amount of lessons learned in such a short time. So much like real business life.” “From beginning to the end I was totally into the game. Great fun and I’ve learned so much !.”
Factsheet for ABC in the Challenge of Egypt; practicing with Attitude, Behavior and Culture in a project This two day business simulation takes a team of up to 12 participants back 4000 years to the times of ancient Egypt. The team needs to create a project organization in order to build the famous Pyramid of Cheops. During the two day session the team will be confronted with many of the challenges faced by the ancient Egyptians; Nile flooding, wars, the changing desires of the Pharaoh. The team's objective is to fulfill their project task within time, scope, budget and quality. Throughout their work in this project their leadership, project management and teamwork skills are challenged and practiced. Where necessary some relevant ABC theory is addressed.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES Learn more about: • • • • • • • • •
determining the real business needs with the right approach and questions. giving and receiving feedback; addressing (un)wanted and (in)effective behavior. presenting and communicating your plans in a convincing way. the behavior and management of various project stakeholders. the project management organization; relevant roles and related tasks, authorisation / power and responsibilities. project management principles. project management skills and competences. controlling projects using project management methods, instruments and skills. the success and failure factors in managing projects.
TARGET AUDIENCE • • • •
Project Managers who want to improve their professional soft skills. Project team members and customers who participate in projects and need to learn more about project management principles and skills. Operational Managers and Team Managers who supply resources to several projects at the same time and need to be more effective using project management principles and skills Students who wants to learn more about project management skills and principles.
ROLES • • •
Project Board roles, responsible for the end-result, quality and delivering project benefits. Project Manager, responsible for managing and controlling the project. Project Assurance, ensure the quality of the project and the project results.
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Project Support, responsible for the administration of the project. Team managers, responsible for the realization of the work.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION In this business simulation participants will enact the roles of a project management organization. The assignment is to build the famous Pyramid of Cheops. The project manager receives the project go-ahead during a project board meeting. The project manager will then initiate the project start-up and inform the team of their assignment. The project begins. Stone blocks must be produced, transported and put in place and risks and project events must be managed. The project manager must deliver the project on time, within budget and meeting the quality demands of the Pharaoh and his priests. During the business simulation the team will encounter relevant project management issues such as how to work with work packages, how to control a project, how to communicate within the project team and with the project board, how a project board needs to control a project and how to deal with scope changes. Special attention is given to the necessary Attitude and Behavior of all project members to bring this project to a successful close. Extra assignments are added in which participants learn and improve their personal communication skills needed for the leadership and management tasks. Participants get to practice their newly acquired skills and get results straightaway.
ANTICIPATED RESULTS Depending upon the learning objectives of the participants, during this training the following learning objectives will be achieved: Participants will • • • • • • • •
learn becoming more focused on the customer and business needs, increasing customer satisfaction and project success. learn co-operating better and how to improve working processes. learn the importance of leadership, accountability, responsibility and ownership within projects. learn analyzing and influencing decision-making processes and becoming more proactive in their actions. get a better understanding of how a project management method can improve the results of projects. get a better understanding of the project management roles, tasks, responsibilities and authorities. learn controlling projects using time, budget, quality and scope as control mechanisms. create a list of improvement needs relating to their own personal project/working environment.
TRAINERS Trainers that are accredited for ABC in the Challenge of Egypt have: • • • • •
experience with projects and project management solid knowledge of project management theory an understanding of A(ttitude) B(ehavior) C(ulture) issues experience with soft skill training experience to adjust the business simulation to address learning objectives of students and organizations
Duration 2 days
Quotes “ An unbelievable amount of lessons learned in such a short time. So much like real business life.” “From beginning to the end I was totally into the game. Great fun and I’ve learned so much!.” “This training course was both a great learning experience and a form of teambuilding. It’s great that we all know about each other’s learning points and you can help each other deal with them. There were both lessons on how to execute project management theory in practice, as on how to work together and deal with customers and project board-members.” “I was able to practice with important personal skills. I was confronted with some of my weaknesses. Because of that I was able to learn important lessons in how to deal with others.” “Because the simulation touches so many aspects of project management, it’s useful for both inexperienced and experienced professionals. As an experienced project manager there were still lots of lessons for me in the game.” (an experienced project manager) “I’m very pleased with the results. Doing the simulation had a very positive effect on how we work together as a team. I see many positive small and big changes in behavior. We all still joke about and remind each other of the lessons we learned. It’s more than met the objectives we had set in advance.” (manager of a team of project managers, 3 months after the business simulation)
WORKING WITHIN ORGANIZATIONS For professionals of the same organization doing the simulation together, it can have added effects like: • • • • • •
Focus on specific issues/themes within the organization. More uniform ways of working within projects. Formulate plans for improvements to enhance the maturity level of the organization further. Getting to know each other better, which improves work relations. Being more effective in working together. The simulation can be used to start further learning programs.
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Sessions in which colleagues advise each other on work issues are usually a great way to maintain the learning appetite. The simulation is a great way to start of a project and learning together being more effective as a person and as a team.