MPUG will host a WebnLearn event that deals with Simulation Based Training. Event Description: “Respect the people in your program” is a core principle of lean project management. A Lean enterprise is an organization that recognizes that its people are the most important resource and is one that adopts high performance work practices Gittell, (2003). In a Lean program, people are not afraid to identify problems and imperfections honestly and openly in real time, brainstorm root causes and corrective actions without fear, and plan effective solutions together by consensus to prevent the problem from occurring again. To achieve this early on in the project life cycle, the project team must develop shared understanding of the project its goals and constraints, its environment and the role of team members in the project. Shared understanding can be defined as a “shared, organized understanding and mental representation of the key elements of the team’s relevant environment” Mohammed & Dumville, (2001). Traditional project management relies on the development of shared understanding as a result of teamwork during the project life cycle. Although such understanding is eventually developed in most projects the cost of limited shared understanding early on in the project life cycle may be significant as the most important decisions are made during the early phases of the project. In this session we present the result of our research in which MS Project and Simulation Based Training (SBT) were used to develop shared understanding among project team members in a pre-project phase. In a set of controlled experiments project teams analyzed project requirements, performed trade off analysis and developed efficient solutions in a simulated environment. Our results show that pre-project sessions can generate shared understanding at a very low cost and increase performances substantially. Learning Objectives: Participants will explore the use of simulation software to test scheduling strategies as part of their overall project risk management activities. Participants will examine the concept of using predefined project simulations for on the job training within the workplace environment.
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