Planning, Leadership & Change
Project Planning
Teams plan the construction of a log cabin to fit a six-week time frame, drawing up a sequence of events, scheduling the workerforce, arranging the order and delivery of materials so that everything arrvies in the right place at the right time. They must also keep cash flow in the 'black' and allow for contingencies. And teams must score more than 80 out of 100 to win the contract!
How it works
Teams have 90 minutes to plan and timetable the construction of a log cabin and come up with a price. They must study the brief, decide where and when to get the various materials, estimate the number of workers required for each stage, consider risks, and price the whole project. They must also decide how to stage payments to suppliers - to avoid going into the red. The completed plans are entered in the single computer or laptop. A detailed report and score is produced for each team - the Trainer announces who wins the contract.
What it does
All the elements of project planning are dealt with in a dynamic way. Working as a project team, participants learn from experience about: analysis of the task, constraints, cash flow management, use of resources, profit margins, work scheduling, contingency planning, critical path and Gantt charts.
Customer feedback
Feedback from the delegates was exceptional and the session ended with a standing ovation!
– L. Taylor, Cundall Johnson & Partners
Delegates found PROJECT PLANNING challenging and interesting. The exercise proved very useful and I'm sure we'll be using it again.
– K. White, Blyth Valley
Excellent tool as an integral component of a project management course for mainly junior middle managers new to projects. Interactive and always gets a good review. The best learning is about juggling a range of variables (schedules, budget, resources) simoultaneously - key to project management.
– A. Myers, Ashorne Hill Management College