Key learnings from project simulation
Lessons Learned from the Project Management Simulation
I am a senior project manager at Delphi Printers & Peripherals, a small electronics and computer peripheral manufacturer based in Santa Clara, California. I have been tasked with assembling and directing a product design team to develop a new and innovative consumer printer. Delphi has intelligence suggesting that a competitor is launching a printer with similar features and capabilities in 6 months, putting pressure on me and my team to develop a new printer that can compete effectively against the competitor's offering.
This project management simulation is more about R&D, since there are 1000 points in total, before I have started the simulation, my plan was to gain at least the basic 800 points and then find some ways to get the extra 200 points. After I have gone through the simulation, I find that it is too hard to get even the basic 800 points since there are full of trade-off among target scope, schedule, cost and morale.
I have run this simulation for several times, each time I have to face some trade-off. If I want to gain full or even extra points from target scope part, which indicates more man-hour to input and heavier workload, I have to assign more upper-level workers to participate into the project, which means, of course, more cost. What’s more, since I do not want to change the target schedule, I have to encourage workers to work overtime and push them hard and these actions will definitely reduce my point in morale part.
If I want to come out an upper-level product while without rise the cost sharply, I must outsource extensively and use more lower-level workers, if I choose to go this way, I may have to face the dilemma that failing to meet the target schedule.
If I want to keep the cost behind the target, I can only come out level 2 product, which just meet the management target at the end of week 18, the expected deadline for this project.
No matter which strategy do I
I am a senior project manager at Delphi Printers & Peripherals, a small electronics and computer peripheral manufacturer based in Santa Clara, California. I have been tasked with assembling and directing a product design team to develop a new and innovative consumer printer. Delphi has intelligence suggesting that a competitor is launching a printer with similar features and capabilities in 6 months, putting pressure on me and my team to develop a new printer that can compete effectively against the competitor's offering.
This project management simulation is more about R&D, since there are 1000 points in total, before I have started the simulation, my plan was to gain at least the basic 800 points and then find some ways to get the extra 200 points. After I have gone through the simulation, I find that it is too hard to get even the basic 800 points since there are full of trade-off among target scope, schedule, cost and morale.
I have run this simulation for several times, each time I have to face some trade-off. If I want to gain full or even extra points from target scope part, which indicates more man-hour to input and heavier workload, I have to assign more upper-level workers to participate into the project, which means, of course, more cost. What’s more, since I do not want to change the target schedule, I have to encourage workers to work overtime and push them hard and these actions will definitely reduce my point in morale part.
If I want to come out an upper-level product while without rise the cost sharply, I must outsource extensively and use more lower-level workers, if I choose to go this way, I may have to face the dilemma that failing to meet the target schedule.
If I want to keep the cost behind the target, I can only come out level 2 product, which just meet the management target at the end of week 18, the expected deadline for this project.
No matter which strategy do I