Learning Contract

The project is all about the development of the new software system that can manage and deliver the accounts related operations. InsCorp has recently advanced the number of the customers and thus, developing sophisticated model that can manage and deliver the necessary operational activities in an efficient and effective way. The manual operation is not much effective and efficient for the delivery of the operational activities.

The Cesim project management approach has been adopted considering the simulation of the required activities and management approaches and thus, a team has been already developed that is capable of assuring the project constraints. However, the leadership and management attributes will the most promising phases in manner to assure the development and delivery of the project in much efficient and effective manner.

The major aim and objective of the project will be to manage the deliverables and objectives of the project in an efficient and effective manner. Thus, the management approaches will be considerable for the management of the entire project deliveries and hence, manage them in an efficient and effective manner. The cooperation and effective negotiation will be required for assuring that the project stakeholders deliver their sector of the job in an effective and efficient way.

The Cesim project management approach will be most promising considering the identification, analysis, and management of the major operational activities. The emphasis will be on the delivery and management of the schedule and final budget of the overall project. The management and delivery assurance requires an effective and efficient strategies those could allow the project delivery to be managed and delivered in an efficient and effective way. The approach is effective an efficient enough to manage the complexity of the team members or the stakeholders assigned to the [project and thus, manage them accordingly. Analytical decisions need to be made considering the linkage between the financial conditions and the business performance of the organization. The decision-making approach and the problem solving can be improved through the adoption of this approach and assuring the management and delivery of the project.

1. Literature Review (models and theories)

Project management is all about the management and delivery of the project through adopting effective and efficient tools and techniques those could allow the manager and leaders of the project to manage and deliver the project constraints in an effective and efficient way. The Cesim Project management methodology generally emphasizes on the communication management of the involved stakeholders and make sure that the every stakeholder comes with an innovative approach and take the project towards its expected outcome and delivery. 

Project Report Objectives

Markulis, Nugent and Strang (2015) stated in their analysis that the considerable and identification of the major deliverables of the project needs to be considered while assuring that the true information is being cascaded and distributed among the respective stakeholders. The information should contain the ongoing activities and progress of the project and all the major deliverables are meeting the project requirement of the outcome and deliveries. Kokcharov (2015) also show their concern in the respective section and commented that the leadership and managerial attributes play a considerable role in the project team management and their interaction with the planned activities with an assurance that the deliveries will satisfy the estimated needs and requirements of the project.  

The Kolb’s learning style method has been adopted in the project for the development of the software system for InsCorp for boosting the abilities and practices of the involved project team members considering the management and delivery of the project. The adopted approach can be disruptive or could lead to the less efficient project delivery because of the inner cognitive methods. According to Kolb (1984), the project learning can be defined as a process through which the experiences can be utilized for bringing the transformation in the ways of the project deliveries and their management. The following four stages are emphasizing sections for the management and delivery of the four stage learning cycle as follows:

Concrete experience: According to Nikolaenko (2016), this stage is effective and efficient as the project team experiences the situations with an innovative situation interpreting the existing experiences.

Reflective observation of new experience: As per the research paper presented by Farmer et al. (2017), the team members might feel inconsistencies and irregularities in understanding the approach of the Cesim project management methodology that can be a lagging factor for the project to be delivered in successful manner.  Thus, approaches should be adopted for improving the efficiency of the project and increasing the awareness of the individuals who are related to the project that is adopting this methodology.

Abstract conceptualization: The same topic is being argued by Caylor et al. (2015) stating and explaining that the reflection on the ongoing project activities adoption of the learning through reflection can be helpful an effective in developing the new and innovative ideas related to the learning style for the team members involved in the project delivery. Learning from own experience can be much more effective and efficient for the individuals can be highly effective in the adoption of the new strategies those could lead the project to the success.

Cesim Project Management Approach

Active experimentation: Another paper by Cohen, Iluz and Shtub (2014) explained that cesim project management methodology can be highly efficient and effective in managing and delivering the new learnings and thoughts for meeting the expected outcomes and deliveries of the project. It is also helpful an effective in monitoring and managing and monitoring the overall progress and delivery of the project.

There should be an effective and efficient communication between the team members regarding the learnings and innovations being adopted by the different team members throughout the delivery of the project lifecycle. This will assure the linkage between the adopted strategies and planning for the management and delivery of the entire project. Following are the learning styles as per the Kolb’s learning experiment.

Diverging: the project is considered from the different perspective considering the efficient and effective management and delivery of the project through adopting innovation and new learnings (Chiocchio, Rabbat and Lebel, 2015). The different perspectives will be helpful an efficient in managing the project deliveries in much efficient and effective way.

Assimilating: The adopted strategies should adopt the logical concepts, approaches, and ideas considering the opportunities and management of the project deliverables in successful and efficient way.

Converging: (Pando-Garcia, Periañez-Cañadillas and Charterina, 2016) stated that the adoption of the innovation must be capable of allowing better problem-solving for the team members.

Accommodating: The intuition is adopted in this learning style rather than emphasizing on the logic through taking into the consideration of the experimental and practical approaches.   

1. Project Phases

The project of Ceism Simulation is a web based solution. This solution does not needs to be installed as a separate application. The simulation solution can be easily accessed from mobile, tablets and PCs as this contains internet connection. The main feature of Simulation platform is that it allows the developer to work virtually as per their need (Martinez et al. 2015). The platform allows each member to develop their own account and enables the account holder to take decision related to their projects. The platform is also having a communication forum that allows the team members to interact with each other. This project is having five phases and are described below:

Effective Project Delivery

Introduction: these step includes introducing the project to the team members and starts making decision that are necessary for the project development (Roversi et al. 2018). The project leader decides the number of rounds that will be conducted for making a decision and follows the project life cycle.

Planning: this phase involves planning and scheduling of the project. The project manager decides the time on which the project needs to be delivered and also sets a budget for the team members. The Cesim project helps in tracking the quality, schedule and budget of the project (Polat, Okay and Eray, 2014). The project manager looks after the resources and matches the requirements and also fixes the cost performance for every project.

Implementation: Ceism simulation solution is being implemented and is accessed from PC and tablet as this solution is being operated with the internet (Kolb, 2014). The solution is web based and contains a communication forum that helps in communicating with team members and with other team also.

Decision making: Ceism simulation project is basically a round based project and every decision making period is about one week long. The project manager needs to be familiar with the project budget at initial stage and with the virtual team (Peterson, DeCato and Kolb, 2015). The skills of the team members and the skills required for the project needs to be evaluated well so that the decision can be taken properly.

Conclusion and analysis: After analyzing the scenario it is being clear that it is impossible to change or modify decision after the deadline of each round is crossed (Forray et al. 2016). In case team fails to take a decision, the system will automatically collect result from previous round and evaluate the outcome.

1. Skills Developed

Project manager plays a major role in simulation projects. The responsibility of the manager is to complete the project with the help of 2 to 4 members. The project member starts their project with team member with different skills and assign each team member with different responsibility according to their specification. The member is having the power to switch the team members with one program (Konak, Clark and Nasereddin, 2014). The project leadership value needs to be developed within the leader for performing this project so that the project complexity can be handled easily (McKinney, 2017).

Leadership and Management

This includes setting a proper goal, managing the budget and problem solving. The manager of the project is responsible for controlling the team members that got generated by simulation. The skills that are being developed for carrying out this project includes communication, negotiation, software development, design and planning as well as it involves customer engagement. Apart from these the requirements needed are system architecture, technical project management and product knowledge.

The team member should know about the process involved in designing, programming, documenting, testing and fix involves in making and maintaining the simulation application. The customer interaction is not needed for internal team members (Kolb, 2014). This project is implemented in order to improve the practical business skills. Effective collaboration along with communication will help the members to solve the problems that will be faced while working with the stimulation.

5. Your actions taken/ Not taken

Project managers has to ensure that all the tasks that are being undertaken gets proper attention and as part of the process I have ensured that all the tasks are being carried out properly. I have measured the progress of all the task by measuring two key indicators that includes the financial and the operations indicators. The time that was spared was used for the discretion. The key success factors of the Cesim projects are ROI (return on investment), earnings per share, market share. It should also be taken in consideration that the success indicator for the simulation process is the return to stakeholders who are capable of consolidating the key success factors in one measurable criterion that are used for comparing performance of each of the project teams.

Practice round is one of the crucial aspect for comforting and informing the project manager with the project needs and as part of the round I did the same. While undertaking the round I along with my team was able to consider some strategic decisions that were concerned with the project resources such as human, capital and others along with decisions over quality, marketing and revenue. The discussed measure was succeeded by business plan which was developed as well as implemented with the objective of addressing the demand and utilisation of the revenue. As the final step the manager designated different roles to the team members and set a deadline for the completion of the activity.

Analytical Decision Making

The primary criteria for the success of the Cesim simulation project was to deliver the project within time and budget. The discussed criteria could only be attained through an organised and dedicated team and so suitable activities were designated to the team members according to their expertise. Furthermore, it was ensured that a proper communication and progress reporting was done and hence, the project manager kept a close eye on all the activities and tasks. Regular reporting of the progress also enabled the manager to provide feedback and make necessary changes if needed. Another notable measure was the communication between different team members it assisted them to develop a positive competition and even assisted in the successful completion of the task whenever needed.

As discussed above effective communication strategy was developed however, the implementation of the strategy was not adequate and it led to overscheduling of the project. However, the inter team communication among the team members was the most primary reason for the over scheduling rather than the within the team communication. The managers managed a proper communication within the team however, the communication between the team managers was improper which developed difficulties in maintaining a balanced update and progress of the task. Furthermore, lack of proper cash transfer among the teams along with ineffective communication manipulated with the initial schedule and led to escalation of the schedule. Finally, a proper communication strategy was developed and implemented which led to the delivery of the project.

6. Project Learning

Undertaking the project has offered several viable lessons and the most prominent of them is regarding the three most essential factors for the success of the project. The discussed factors are cost, time and quality. It was also learnt that all of the factors are interrelated and depends upon the performance of three processes that includes planning, controlling and closing.  As part of the project the data regarding to the importance of the quality and time points were provided as part of the simulation parameter.

I learnt many viable lessons and one of the most prominent of them was managing of a project and coordinating with other teams to attain successful delivery of the expected deliverables. As stated earlier the most prominent learning was regarding the importance of completing a project with high quality within the cost, budget and time. Furthermore, the skills of decision making and the allocating tasks according to the expertise were also the lessons that were learned as part of the simulation project.

Communication Management

Another one of the success criteria for the successful delivery of the project is to have a satisfied team at the end of the project. At times there were difficulty in managing the task however, the lessons that were learnt as part of my education came in use and assisted in mitigating the threats. The first and foremost measure adopted to keep the team satisfied was to provide them with the jobs that were suitable according to their expertise so that the quality of the project is managed and the designated member is also satisfied. Furthermore, availing them with proper communication opportunities also assisted in managing their satisfactory level. The communication also assisted in ensuring that the team members are attaining their individual goals which was also a lesson that was learnt from undertaking the project.

Another notable learning from the project was that if any of the team members are left out from engaging in any activity that may develop complicacies for the delivery of the project. The discussed lesson was learnt after studying and implementing Kolb’s learning theory that is concerned with the learner’s internal cognitive methods and processes along with the different natures of people at certain learning style. So, each of the member was provided with a chance to learn through engagement in activities.

I also learned that decision making by taking all the aspects such as team, revenue, quality, activities, ROI and many others is crucial. The experienced gained from undertaking each activity and including it as part of the next activity is also a crucial identification that defines the success of the project.  Another notable identification was the importance and need for collaboration of teams in a vast project that is divided in parts. Negotiation, communication, management of time, cost and schedules were also crucial learnings from the project. Hence, in summary it would be adequate to state that the learning from the project was not limited to individual level but extended from individual to team and finally to project level.

7. References

Barker, D.J., Lencucha, J. and Anderson, R., (2016). Kolb’s learning cycle as a framework for early fieldwork learning. World Federation of Occupational Therapists Bulletin, 72(1), pp.28-34.

Kolb’s Learning Style Method

Caylor, S., Aebersold, M., Lapham, J. and Carlson, E., (2015). The use of virtual simulation and a modified teamSTEPPS™ training for multiprofessional education. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 11(3), pp.163-171.

Chiocchio, F., Rabbat, F. and Lebel, P., (2015). Multi?level efficacy evidence of a combined interprofessional collaboration and project management training program for healthcare project teams. Project Management Journal, 46(4), pp.20-34.

Cohen, I., Iluz, M. and Shtub, A., (2014). A simulation?based approach in support of project management training for systems engineers. Systems Engineering, 17(1), pp.26-36.

Farmer, E., Van Rooij, J., Riemersma, J. and Jorna, P., (2017). Handbook of simulator-based training. Routledge.

Forray, J., Leigh, J., Goodnight, J. and Cycon, D., (2016). Teaching methods and the Kolb learning cycle. R. Sunley & J. Leigh, Educating for Responsible Management: Putting Theory into Practice, pp.325-341.

Kokcharov, I., (2015). Using Business Simulation to Analyse Project Management Decision Making. The Shift from Teaching to Learning: Individual, Collective and Organizational Learning Through Gaming Simulation, p.313.

Kolb, D.A., (2014). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. FT press.

Konak, A., Clark, T.K. and Nasereddin, M., (2014). Using Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle to improve student learning in virtual computer laboratories. Computers & Education, 72, pp.11-22.

Majeed, A., Bhana, R., Haq, A.U. and Sharma, M., (2018). Game Based Learning (GBL) adoption model for universities: cesim simulation. Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences, 10(4S), pp.36-41.

Markulis, P., Nugent, M. and Strang, D., (2015). Assessing the Role of Assessment in Business Simulations. In Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning: Proceedings of the Annual ABSEL conference (Vol. 42).

Martinez, E.H., Alvear, A.M., Tommelein, I.D. and Ballard, G., (2015). FORMWORK STANDARDIZATION AND PRODUCTION FLOW: LESSONS FROM AN AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECT IN ECUADOR. In Proceedings of 23rd Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction. Perth, Australia, 29-31 Jul 2015., 53 (Vol. 59).

McKinney, E., (2017). Using Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle to lead students in learning about sewable circuits.

Miller, A.H., (2016). Benchmarking Learner Education Using Online Business Simulation. International Journal of Cyber Society and Education, 9(1), pp.17-34.

Nikolaenko, V.S., (2016). The training simulator for the project activity” Master Project”. In SHS Web of Conferences. Vol. 28: Research Paradigms Transformation in Social Sciences (RPTSS 2015).—Les Ulis, 2016. (Vol. 282015, p. 1072). EDP Sciences.

Pando-Garcia, J., Periañez-Cañadillas, I. and Charterina, J., (2016). Business simulation games with and without supervision: An analysis based on the TAM model. Journal of Business Research, 69(5), pp.1731-1736.

Peterson, K., DeCato, L. and Kolb, D.A., (2015). Moving and learning: Expanding style and increasing flexibility. Journal of Experiential Education, 38(3), pp.228-244.

Polat, G., Okay, F. and Eray, E., (2014). Factors affecting cost overruns in micro-scaled construction companies. Procedia engineering, 85, pp.428-435.

Roversi, R., Cinquepalmi, F., Cumo, F. and Pennacchia, E., (2018). Experimental envelopes and their integration in the building information modeling energy simulation process. International Journal of Energy Production and Management, 3(2), pp.97-109.