Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez: Project Canvas Simulation - Version 1

Set up

Continue and cover the plan briefly overview.Three main things to address. 1) Employee benefits and wages. 2) Construct new facility that will exceed recommended safety standards. 3) Overhaul company culture.

Download Project Canvas Plan

The first step is to listen to the employees and let them air out their grievances. After all, if this project is to be successful, you need to make sure they are happy. So, you meet with them and while you don't decide on exactly how much the wages will increase, you do manage to elicit a range as well as some expected benefits. Additionally, you agree that their facilities need to be updated so they are safer, more comfortable and state-of-the-art.

So after your meeting, you finish drafting your plan using the Project Canvas Methods. You present your plan to CEO and the steering committee. After some conversations about timelines, budget and how to fix this situation, almost everyone has bought in.

One senior board member in particular is very vocal about his opposition. He believes the project is too generous and will negatively impact the company's profits. You've already tried to appeal to his sense of empathy by inviting him to have lunch with a few of the disgruntled employees and hear them out, but that didn't change his mind. Being that he is a senior member of the board, he has quite a bit of influence and earning his buy-in is important. The way you see it, you can convince him by presenting data on the expected benefits of this cultural transformation project and reiterating the vision. Namely, that the cost of increased benefits is small compared to how much money and time you will save in the long run due to decreased turnover and increased production. The other option would be to appease him and reduce the generosity of the benefits and the scope of the project. Which would you choose?

Data Presentation

While he still has his reservations, he has come to understand that investing in the well-being of the employees will have a positive impact and save time and money in hiring and training new employees.

The next step is to prove to the employees that you're actively working on their behalf and get them to buy into the vision of the project. You need to make sure everyone understands what you're trying to accomplish, feels passionate and excited about the new vision and has access to relevant information. You draft up two potential communication plans. Both will be distributed over numerous channels periodically. The first would focus heavily on the results of the project, rather than the details. The second would highlight details and key information like deadlines and expected changes. Which type of message would you send out?

Details

Results

As a result, you've lost some of the trust of the employees. They didn't want a rosy picture of the future. They wanted you to prove that you listened to them. The lack of details makes them skeptical. Therefore, they aren't fully bought in yet.

As a result, the employees have began trusting in you and the project. They wanted confirmation that you listened to them. Seeing the details has helped lower their guard and earn their buy-in

Despite a lack of buy-in from some stakeholders, you decide to push forward and actually being the execution of your plan. One of the first issues you encounter results from obscurity in the initial scope of the project, which has led to several potentially major uncertainties coming up. You can delay the project for about a week to deal with these issue now, or you can fix them on the fly and try to meet the deadline. What do you do?

Reduce scope of project

Now that you've earned buy-in from everyone, you begin process of actually starting the project. One of the first issues you encounter results from obscurity in the initial scope of the project, which has led to several potentially major uncertainties coming up. You can delay the project for about a week to deal with these issue now, or you can fix them on the fly and try to meet the deadline. What do you do?

After presenting your less generous version of the plan, he has agreed. However, the number you just presented to him is somewhat lower than the figure the employees had expressed. This might be problematic in the end. But, at least you've got the approval of all the steering committee.

The next step is to prove to the employees that you're actively working on their behalf and get them to buy into the vision of the project. You need to make sure everyone understands what you're trying to accomplish, feels passionate and excited about the new vision and has access to relevant information. You draft up two potential communication plans. Both will be distributed over numerous channels periodically. The first would focus heavily on the results of the project, rather than the details. The second would highlight details and key information like deadlines and expected changes. Which type of message would you send out?

Results

Details

You have failed to earn their full buy-in. While they are happy that their benefits got better, they are disappointed that their expectations were not met. They don't feel like you or the organization have their backs.

You have failed to earn the full buy-in from the employees. They wanted details that proved you listened to them and were working on their behalf. They feel like you're keeping something from them and therefore remain skeptical.

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Delay the project

Fix problems on the fly

Delay the project

Fix problems on the fly

Despite a lack of buy-in from some stakeholders, you decide to push forward and actually begin the execution of your plan. One of the first issues you encounter results from obscurity in the initial scope of the project, which has led to several potentially major uncertainties coming up. You can delay the project for about a week to deal with these issue now, or you can fix them on the fly and try to meet the deadline. What do you do?

Delay the project

Fix problems on the fly

This causes several time delays and balloons your costs.

Your project is on the brink of failure. You need to get under budget. You can either redraft your initial budget or cut costs by reducing the benefits for employees again.

Redraft budget

Reduce employee benefits again

During that week long wait, all momentum that you had came to a sudden halt. However, the plus side is that all major uncertainties have been addressed and work can resume.

This causes several time delays and balloons your costs.

But, you need to find a way to try and make up some of that lost time so you can still hit your deadline. You figure that you can acquire some additional resources, but you are afraid of exceeding the budget. You are left with 2 options. 1) Redraft the budget or 2) reduce the scope and cut employee benefits again. Which do you choose?

Your project is on the brink of failure. You need to get under budget. You can either redraft your initial budget or cut costs by reducing employee benefits.

The 1 week delay slowed you down, but you're confident that you can make up the time. The real issue is that by addressing the major uncertainties, you have incurred several additional costs that threaten to put you over budget.

During that week long wait, all momentum that you had came to a sudden halt. However, the plus side is that all major uncertainties have been addressed and work can resume.

But, you need to find a way to try and make up some of that lost time so you can still hit your deadline. You can either petition for more resources or you can push the deadline back. What do you do?

Redraft budget

While cutting back on your promise again will guarantee that you meet your budget, it will also guarantee that you never earn the buy-in from your employees. For this project to be successful, you needed to earn their trust and support.

Fed up with having their promised benefits slashed, the employees go back on strike. As a result, the stocks take another massive hit, public perception worsens and the board of directors replaces you with someone else. Try again.

Try again.

You meet with the steering committee to report the situation. You tell them that you've already tried to cut costs elsewhere, but that you need more resources to complete the project on time due to unforeseen circumstances popping up. They reluctantly approve the new budget, but only by a small margin. They didn't leave you much wiggle room.

Which is unfortunate because a new issue has appeared. The vendor for one of these special materials is running out of stock and there is no timeline as to when they will get more. The problem is that since the project has yet to reach that stage, you don't have a precise number for how much of that material is needed. If you order the entire remaining amount, you might have too much, which will potentially affect your budget. The other option is to wait until you have an exact measurement and hope they have more in stock by then. What do you do?

Order what is left

You meet with the steering committee to report the situation. You tell them that you've already cut costs at the expense of the employees, but since the project was delayed a week to address several uncertainties, you are afraid you won't hit your deadline. You require more resources to help make up some time. They go ahead and approve your budget request and give you a decent amount of wiggle room.

Although you ended up ordering too much, it turns out that it was cheaper than waiting. The cost from other vendors for the same material would have been at least double. At least your gamble paid off. You remain under budget and on track to complete the project by the established deadline.

Wait

The time has come to order this material, but your vendor's stock hasn't been replenished. Luckily, you were able to find another vendor. However, their price is double what you expected.

You can either go ahead and order it, full knowing you're going to exceed the budget, but increasing your chances of meeting the deadline. Or you can wait to see if your original vendor's stock will replenish. Their website says that they expect new inventory in 15 days. Which do you choose?

Order anyways

Wait

All progress on the project has come to a halt and after a 2 week delay, your original vendor still didn't receive more stock. Your project is now over the original timeframe and since you have to order this material from the more expensive vendor, you are also over budget.

Even worse, this project has underdelivered. You've failed to earn the buy-in from the employees and have lost the confidence of the steering committee and the executive sponsor. They have decided to appoint a new project manager. Try again.

While you have slightly exceeded the budget, you do remain on track to complete the project on time.

Which is a good thing, because you might have to take on extra costs. The training satisfaction survey scores from both employees and managers are very low. You decide to shop around and try to find another cultural training firm. Eventually you managed to find the best one, but it is also significantly more expensive than the current firm. Since you've got some room in the budget, do you want to hire the new firm, or keep the current one?

New Firm

Current Firm

Replacing the old firm means that the cultural training program's original deadline won't be met, since training has to start over. Although the initial sentiment from the manager and employees was excitement, you've heard that they aren't too keen on having to start over.

Keeping the same course has accomplished exactly what you expect. Satisfaction scores aren't improving and employees are beginning to lose faith in the project.

Even worse, it has come to your attention that several of the team leaders are losing faith as well. They feel that the training is a waste of time and that they aren't getting anything out of it.

Recently, it has come to your attention that several of the team leaders are so frustrated that they have begun openly protesting the project.

You need to re-establish their belief in the project quick, or you'll lose the support of all key stakeholders. You come up with possible ways of doing this. The first is that you could find out who is leading this dissent and fire them. While this is decisive, it would serve as a wake-up call to other managers. The second option is to meet with the dissatisfied team leaders and try to re-align them with the project's vision. What would you do?

Meet with them

Fire the ring leader

Your plan to scare them back in line backfired. The team leaders have all decided to quit going to the cultural training sessions. Their lack of conviction has spread like wildfire to all team members as well.

The project has failed to earn the support of several key stakeholders. The project governance has opted to force you out and assign a new project manager. Try again.

Try again.

You managed to convince them of why this project is important and they have all decided to begin taking the training more seriously. Which eventually helps you win over the employees as well

Congratulations. You managed to successfully complete the project. But I think you could do better. I suggest you try again and see if you can get a better result.

Complete simulation

Try again

Congratulations. You managed to successfully complete the project. But I would say that there is definitely some room for improvement. I would urge you to try again and try to do better.

Complete simulation

Try again

Congratulations. You managed to successfully complete the project. But I would say that there is definitely some room for improvement. I would urge you to try again and try to do better.

Complete simulation

Try again

Petition for more resources

Push the deadline back

This proves to be extremely time consuming and slows down the entire project. If you still want to meet the deadline, you need to make up some time.

You can either try to get additional resources assigned to your project or you can push the deadline back

Petition for more resources

Push the deadline back

Redraft budget

Reduce employee benefits

The good news is that you've cut costs. The bad news is that the employees aren't happy. As a result, their work output and motivation has dropped.

You meet with the steering committee to report the situation. You tell them that you need more resources to complete the project on time due to unforeseen circumstances slowing you down and consuming significant parts of the budget. They tell you to come back with a new version of the budget and scope and they will see what they can do.

Luckily, this project is a top priority of the organization and you're likely going to get the resources you need. The trouble is that you already promised to get this project done under a certain amount and now you have to ask for more. You're faced with two options. You can try to ask for exactly what you need. The obvious risk here is that you might need to ask for more if more unforeseen circumstances pop up. The second option is to ask for a higher amount that includes some wiggle room for overages. You're afraid that this route will make you look incompetent and greedy. What would you do?

Draft a budget that covers your exact costs

Draft a budget that includes room for overages

You meet with the steering committee to report the situation. You explain that you need more resources to make up the time you lost due to unforeseen circumstances. They tell you to come back with a new version of the budget and scope and they will see what they can do.

Pushing the deadline back has had a negative impact on momentum and work output. Project staff just don't feel like the project is as important since it has been pushed back.

You figure that one way to make them happy is to create an incentive program that will boost their productivity and while also helping them earn more money. The other option is to reduce the deadline by a month to increase pressure on them and hopefully increase their output. What would you do?

Devise incentive program

Increase pressure

You form two potential plans of action. You could establish an incentive program that could potentially boost productivity. The other option would be to add additional resources to the project. Which would you do?

Petition for more resources

Devise Incentive Program

Increasing pressure is a great way to boost momentum, but because you took away some of their benefits, this tactic had the opposite effect. Any buy-in you had from them has vanished. For this project to be successful, you needed to earn their trust and support.

Upset with you for not meeting deadlines and losing the support of the workers, the steering committee forces you out and replaces you with someone else. Try again.

Try again

While they are still unhappy about losing some of the benefits, the incentive program has increased their motivation to get the project done early. In fact, the project actually gets ahead of schedule.

The incentive program worked like a charm. Momentum has picked back up and the project actually gets ahead of schedule.

Good job! You have successfully completed the simulation. There are many other possible ways of accomplishing this project. You can try again any time you like!

The new budget proposal has been approved. Unsurprisingly, several new issues appear and you don't have the money to deal with them.

Reluctantly, the steering committee approved your budget. They were surprised by how much it had increased, but agreed that it was a good idea to include some wiggle room.

click to edit

Try again

Complete simulation

Congratulations. You have successfully completed the simulation. There are many possible ways to win, some of which are better outcomes. Feel free to practice again.

Upset that you exceeded the budgets again and failed to deliver the project, the steering committee has forced you out and replaced you with someone else. Try again

Try again

Congratulations, you have successfully completed the simulation. You also managed to earn a very good result. There are several other ways to win. Feel free to come back and practice this any time you like.

Complete simulation

Try again

Reduce employee benefits again

Try again

You meet with the steering committee to report the situation. You explain that you need more resources to make up the time you lost due to unforeseen circumstances. They tell you to come back with a new version of the budget and scope and they will see what they can do.

Luckily, this project is a top priority of the organization and you're likely going to get the resources you need. The trouble is that you already promised to get this project done under a certain amount and now you have to ask for more. You're faced with two options. You can try to ask for exactly what you need. The obvious risk here is that you might need to ask for more if more unforeseen circumstances pop up. The second option is to ask for a higher amount that includes some wiggle room for overages. You're afraid that this route will make you look incompetent and greedy. What would you do?

Draft a new budget that includes room for overages

Pushing the deadline back has had a negative impact on momentum and work output. Project staff just don't feel like the project is as important since it has been pushed back.

You form two potential plans of action. You could establish an incentive program that could potentially boost productivity. The other option would be to add additional resources to the project. Which would you do?

Devise Incentive Plan

Petition for more resources

The incentive program worked like a charm. Momentum has picked back up and the project actually gets ahead of schedule.

Good job! You have successfully completed the simulation. There are many other possible ways of accomplishing this project. You can try again any time you like!

Try again

Complete simulation

Draft a budget that covers your exact costs

The new budget proposal has been approved. Unsurprisingly, several new issues appear and you don't have the money to deal with them.

Upset that you exceeded the budgets again and failed to deliver the project, the steering committee has forced you out and replaced you with someone else. Try again

Try again

Reluctantly, the steering committee approved your budget. They were surprised by how much it had increased, but agreed that it was a good idea to include some wiggle room.

Congratulations, you have successfully completed the simulation. You also managed to get the best result possible! There are several other ways to win. Feel free to come back and practice this any time you like.

Complete simulation

Try again