Challenge of Egypt

Do you recognize these challenges in projects?

• Improving performance in projects
• Improving team working in projects
• Translating project management theory into practice.

Why do projects continually fail? Key reasons include:

• Poor end-user engagement and involvement
• Unclear requirements specifications and planning
• Ineffective project management
• Frequent scope changes not well managed
• Lack of project leadership and soft skills.

This business simulation can be used to help participants address the above common challenges and failures as well as enable participants learn how to apply waterfall or agile method in a realistic challenging environment.

The scenario takes place 4000 years ago in ancient Egypt.

Zoser’s pyramid has just been completed; work on the Cheops pyramid has yet to be started.

Egypt was one of the most important civilizations of that time, and structures were being built alongside the Nile that would continue to astonish people for millennia to come.

How could the Egyptians do this?

This cannot be done without proper project management. How are you going to excavate, transport and construct millions of stones and ensure that tens of thousands of people work as efficiently as possible?

Obviously that didn’t just happen all by itself.

Furthermore, the process was continually subject to the changing demands of the Pharaoh, the weather, diseases, wars etc. project management practices, skills and instruments were required to deal with all of these issues.

The mighty Pharaoh is fighting wars to protect his country.

There is a risk he could be fatally wounded at any moment.

Just like every Pharaoh he wants to secure his afterlife, and to take his treasures and weapons with him.

His good friend, the priest, will take care of the Pharaoh’s requirements and will ensure that a project is set up to construct this magnificent pyramid close to the river Nile.

Teams of administrators and quality experts will support the project and guarantee that the Pyramid will secure the Pharaoh’s afterlife.

The best project manager in the country will make it all happen.

• How to translate project management theory into practice
• Setting up a project organisation with the associated roles, tasks and responsibilities
• Analysing the project risks and agreeing countermeasures
• Carrying out work packages in the role of team leader and monitoring progress
• Monitoring the tolerances (budget, time, scope and quality) of a project or subproject
• Resolving project issues
• Managing the project in the role of project manager
• Dealing with changes within the project
• Dealing with the project board
• Evaluating a project
• Insight in the knowledge, skills and behaviour to manage successful projects.

• Students who followed project management training and want to learn how to apply the theory before going into their projects.
• Teams who want to assess and improve the current way of working in projects. By playing this simulation they can experience possible improvement suggestions for their own projects.
• Teams during kickoff sessions. A perfect way of bringing the team together, including sponsors and users, and experience how we are going to work together in the project.
• For team building.
• To support your project management approach. Spread the message within the organization by using this simulation. It is fun, exciting and people will remember.
• You can use the simulation as part of soft skills development to focus on communication and collaboration.
• There is also an ‘Agile’ variant of the game that can be used to support Agile methods

Challenge of Egypt is a great add-on to PMP Exam Prep, PRINCE2 Practitioner, AgilePM Practitioner and ABC Scrum Master courses.