Project Management Simulation: The Kobayashi Maru

What a morning! Some days, you’d rather just stay in bed. For those Trekkies out there, you are familiar with the Kobayashi Maru or the infamous “no win scenario” that was part of the curriculum for command-track cadets at Starfleet Academy featured in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. It was primarily used to assess a cadet’s discipline, character and command capabilities when facing an impossible situation, as there were no “legitimate” strategies that would result in a successful outcome.

We all have some mornings where the Klingon War Birds are closing in, the shields are about to fail, and the destruction of your ship is imminent. There is no way out. You are done! Well, I sat in the captain’s chair this morning, and my little starship was in a world of hurt. The project was falling way behind, the budget was blown to bits, the staff was putting in a lot of overtime and they were not particularly thrilled about it. And worst of all, the boss was not happy at all. The situation was looking pretty grim as we battled to regain control of the project and get things back on schedule. Our stress level was boiling over. Could we pull the project together, would my starship be doomed and its crew turned to space dust.

Then, a friendly voice carved through the tension, saying, “You have completed Phase I.” What?!?  Was this just a bad dream? Well, not really. It was the simulation that comes with Bama At Work’s Advanced Project Management course. This course features a unique real-world simulation that will test your skills as a project manager. The simulation covers just about all of the nightmares that could possibly happen to you when piloting your way through a major project. Like the Kobayashi Maru, the simulation puts you and your team in some tough situations that will call on all of your planning and decision making abilities. And, unlike James T. Kirk, you can’t reprogram and beat the simulation. But, you can win fair and square, if you make the right moves.

Think you have the moxie to sit in the captain’s chair in the heat of battle? Do you want to learn how to command your starship when the odds are against you? Take project management courses and earn your Starfleet stripes.  Visit our website to learn more and enroll in the University of Alabama’s Project Management Academy. On-site custom training is available upon request. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google + ,and LinkedIn  for more information and news about project management certificate programs, professional development and how to improve the efficiency of your organization.

Article by Antoine Bell, Marketing and Strategic Communications Manager, Professional Development & Conference Services, The University of Alabama.

Don’t Let Your Project Become Your Death Star.

So Star Wars can be downloaded starting  today April 10. The first six movies are coming to Digital HD so you can watch them on any of your devices. I can’t think of a better way to avoid conversation with people than to binge watch Darth Vader and Jar Jar Binks. Then again, there are some lessons project managers can take away from how Darth Vader project managed the Death Star. Wait, I didn’t mean that, Lord Vader…Urgh-grgh-gak.

A blog article listed reasons why projects fail, reasons that may explain why the Death Star wasn’t a great tribute to sound project management:

1. Lack of a Project Charter: “Because the Emperor said so. Why do you need anything else?”
2. Lack of User Involvement: “Meh. Just because the Storm Troopers fight the rebels every day and know how they think doesn’t mean they know anything about building a Death Star.”
3. Poorly Defined Requirements: “Requirements? It’s big and has a big death ray. No worries!”
4. Scope Creep: “While we’re at it, let’s throw in some big huge expensive way-cool turbo lasers since we don’t need to worry about small, tiny fighters.”
5. Poorly Defined or Unrealistic Time Scales: “The Darth Vader music just started. Here come the ruthless expectations.”
6. Inadequate (or non-existent) Testing: “The thermal exhaust port is really small. What could go wrong?”
7. Lack of Resources: “We don’t have enough money in the budget for a fancy safe, so let’s just hide the Death Star blueprints in the dresser drawer.”
8. Use of New or Unfamiliar Tools: “Who needs the Force when we have…Urgh-grgh-gak.”
9. Political Infighting: “The Emperor dissolved the Imperial Senate and plans to control the regions with these Death Stars. It’s in the bag.”
10. Poor Project Management: “Time, cost, and scope? I’d rather fight Obi-Wan Kenobi with light sabers.”

Want to do better? Take project management courses so you don’t build a Death Star. On the other hand, it could help you hold the world ransom for…ONE MILLION DOLLARS! Oh, sorry. Wrong movie. Visit our website to learn more and enroll in the University of Alabama’s Project Management Certificate Program. On-site custom training is available upon request. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google + , LinkedIn  for more information and news about project management certificate programs, professional development and how to improve the efficiency of your organization.

Article by Leroy Hurt, Associate Dean, Professional Development and Community Engagement, The University of Alabama.

 

Project Management: Why Organizations Sink or Swim

Project Management is a driving factor in the success of any organization. Its premise is to execute objectives necessary for achieving goals by relying heavily on planning, processes, strategy and teamwork. An effective Project Manager should have the ability to manage these elements while simultaneously adapting to unexpected changes and troubleshooting any obstacles that may arise. So what could potentially go wrong when a project is great in theory?

Here is a list of 12 Common Project Management Mistakes as reported by actual Project Managers and IT Executives. (Source: CIO.com)

1. Not assigning the right person to manage the project
2. Failing to get everyone on the team behind the project
3. Not getting executive buy-in
4. Putting too many projects into production at once
5. Lack of regular communication/meetings
6. Not being specific enough with the scope/allowing the scope to frequently change
7. Providing aggressive/overly optimistic timelines
8. Not being flexible
9. Not having a system in place for approving and tracking changes
10. Micromanaging projects
11. Expecting software to solve all your project management issues
12. Not having a metric for defining success

Perhaps one of history’s greatest project management mishaps is that of the sinking of the Titanic, a tragic event that may have been fully preventable. On April 15, 1912, the infamous British liner struck an iceberg, filled with water, and sunk to the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean claiming the lives of 1,514 passengers. You may be surprised to see how specific operational errors that resulted in this great catastrophe correlate with issues still reported by project management professionals today.

First, the Titanic could have been constructed with a double hull, a risk management failure on the part of the ship’s manufacturers and builders. Because this invention was already in place, a metric for defining success may have included specific safety requirements to eliminate negligent structural decisions.  Second, the ship’s walls were not fully sealed and were capable of containing only a limited amount of flooding. Had the bulkheads been sealed throughout, the flooding may have been reduced or prevented. Flexibility in the design to anticipate the greatest possible complication rather than the least would have effectuated proper planning.

Next, Captain Edward John Smith’s substandard response to warnings issued by other ships that dangerous ice was approaching was to take a slightly alternate route and continue to move forward at full speed. Perhaps the right person was not assigned to manage this project, as a wiser Captain may have opted to slow down or stop the ship until morning.

Finally, the Titanic was furnished with only enough lifeboats to rescue about one-third of its passengers, and even those were not filled to capacity. By attempting to transport more passengers than it was prepared to accommodate in the face of disaster, the voyage essentially had too many projects in production at once.  Not having properly trained staff in place to fill the lifeboats to capacity demonstrates the deficiency of not having everyone on the team behind the project.

So, how can you prevent your business from hitting the metaphorical iceberg and sinking? The University of Alabama’s Advanced Project Management certificate program offers three essential courses with a UA Practitioner certification awarded upon completion.  The Advanced Project Management with Simulation course on April 1 – 3 and October 19 – 21 provides an opportunity for professional students to engage in an interactive activity in which they assume a project manager’s role. The simulation exercise presents students with situations during the planning and execution phases of projects, and challenges them to make timely decisions that will affect the outcome of the project. Students are afforded the opportunity to practice project management in a real-world environment designed to help them utilize their new and sharpened skills upon returning to work.

The benefits of having a well-trained project management team and the dangers of neglecting to do so are equally evident. Employers may want to consider making simulation training a requirement for their programs as a means of rapidly increasing the expertise of their project management staff. Project Managers seeking career growth may take advantage of simulation training to improve and accelerate their development of project management skills. Visit our website to learn more and enroll in the University of Alabama’s Project Management Certificate Program. On-site custom training is available upon request.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google + , LinkedIn  for more information and news about project management certificate programs, professional development and how to improve the efficiency of your organization.

Article by Kara Creel,  Marketing Coordinator for Bama At Work, The University of Alabama.