Course Overview

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 civilizations of that time, and structures are built alongside the 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 the infrastructure between these locations. And it is your responsibility to get the job done. You will have to set up a project organization, analyze risks and create a plan.

What will you learn during this interactive workshop?

  • How the most important parts of project management theory are practiced into practice.
  • Setting up a project organization with the associated roles, tasks and responsibilities.
  • Analysing the project risks and finding 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 sub project.
  • 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 into the knowledge, skills and behavior to manage successful projects.

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 practice 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 moments to learn from the Egyptians and from the team 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.

The game is designed for

  • Management teams
  • Project managers
  • Team leaders
  • Others involved in projects

How does this workshop fit within your organization?

The way in which  The Challenge of Egyptfits within your organization depends on how project management is applied. The following possibilities are perfectly reasonable:

  • You use The Challenge of Egypt to set up a project management approach in your organization (create awareness).
  • You use it to test the quality and effectiveness of your current implementation of your project management method or approach (assessment).
  • You see it as a way to put everything that has been learned in project management training courses into practice. After the project evaluation, you will have a valuable list of points for improvement to the implementation of your project management approach (supports knowledge transfer).
  • You can use the workshop to develop desired project management soft skills in addition to the current knowledge of your project management method (PRINCE2).
  • You have not yet implemented a project management method or approach and you see The Challenge of Egypt as an exploratory workshop to study the usefulness of one and to determine what the benefits of this method or approach may be for your organization.

Training Info

 Duration            : 1 Days

Language            : Conducted in English Language

Contact                 : T  02 670 8980 – 3 ext. 308

                                : F  02 670 8984
                                : E  [email protected]