Project team builder
Project Team Builder (sometimes abbreviated as PTB) is a Project Management Simulator used for training project managers. The PTB won the PMI Professional Development Product of the Year Award 2008.[1] The PTB is based on an innovative approach that simulates the dynamic stochastic nature of modern projects, and is used in universities and business organizations around the world. The users of the software simulate managing a project throughout its life cycle. The goal is to maximize the profit, measured by the cash position at the end of the project.
History
The PTB was initially developed in 1990 at the Technion by a team of researchers led by Avraham Shtub. The simulator was used to train teams working on Israel Electric Corporation project of building the ??? power plant.
Software
The PTB allows the user to load predefined projects and simulate managing those projects. The user starts by creating a plan for the project by choosing different modes of execution, assigning task start times, managing resources, etc. After the plan is ready the user can advance the simulation time. The PTB engine randomizes different parameters to simulate the stochastic nature of real projects. The user has to continuously monitor the project and react to the nondeterministic events. The project will fail if the cash flow runs negative. Once the user completes the project a final score is presented based on the latest cash amount. The topics covered by the PTB are:
- Project Planning
- Scope and Requirement Management
- Cost Benefit Analysis
- Project Monitoring
- Project Control
- Resource Management
- Cash Management
- Risk Management
- Scheduling