The Challenge of Egypt
An interactive Project Management workshop
The scenario plays during the fourth dynasty in ancient Egypt, about four thousand years ago. Zoser's pyramid has just been completed; work on Cheops' pyramid has yet to be started. Egypt was one of the most important civilisations of that time, and structures were built a long site Nile that would continue to astonish people for millennia to come. How could the Egyptians do this?
We are going to find out in the interactive workshop, The Challenge of Egypt, in which we are going to build a pyramid ourselves. To do that, we are going back in time and will meet the pharaoh. He has given his vizier Hainunu instructions to build a pyramid, so that he can make the journey to the hereafter along with everything that is precious to him. Hainunu finds a suitable location for the pyramid, a quarry for the stone and a village for the workers. He also arranges for the infrastructure between these locations. And it is your responsibility to get the job done. You will have to set up a project organisation, analyse risks and create a plan.
What has Project Management got to do with Egypt?
The ancient Egyptians built enormous structures in a fairly short time. This cannot be done without proper project management. How are you going to get millions of stones to the right place and to make sure that tens of thousands of people work as efficiently and effectively as possible? Obviously this 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. You need to have the project management skills and instruments do deal with all of these issues.
During the four rounds of this interactive workshop, the most important aspects of best practises project management will appear and be experienced. This is done actively, and interactively. The building process for a pyramid will actually be simulated letting the participants experience the control elements of good project management. During the building process, all participants have a role within the project management environment. The project team is given the task of building the pyramid within a fixed time. The process is affected by real-life events that actually occurred in that period of time. During the building process there will be several reflection moment to learn from the Egyptians and from the teams own experience. At the end of the project, when the pyramid has been built, there will be a project evaluation and all the instructive points will be listed.
What will you learn during this interactive workshop?
- How the most important parts of project management theory are practised into practise.
- Setting up a project organisation with the associated roles, tasks and responsibilities.
- Analysing the project risks and finding countermeasures.
- Carrying out work packages in the role of project leader and monitoring progress.
- Monitoring the tolerances (budget, time, scope and quality) of a project or subproject.
- Resolving project issues.
- Managing the project.
- Dealing with changes within the project.
- Dealing with the project board.
- Evaluating a project.
- Insight in the knowledge, skills and behavior to manage successful projects.
