Overall Experience with Scenario:

In total, I ran through this simulation about 18 times. Each time, I think I learned
how to better manage the team’s stress throughout the project. Even though I
was able to manage their stress it was extremely difficult to stay on the
timeline, and especially within budget. I was able to schedule their one on
one meetings fairly effectively week to week and that seemed to work. I
reduced tasks that would take up their time like the stand ups and reviews if
they were getting too stressed. I also didn’t require them to provide any
additional prototypes.
The difference with his scenario is that we had to produce a high quality product,
in a very short timeline, and with very constrained budgets. There also was
not a surprise event part way through this scenario like there was in previous
ones. I think what was most different in this scenario is that it was extremely
stressful on the team. I experienced almost unmanageable stress throughout.
Once they started to feel the stress of the project, it was very difficult to
reduce it.
A strategy I used for this scenario was to start off with highly experienced team
members, not require a prototype, and limit their weekly activities. This
would give the more time to complete their objectives and focus on the tasks
at hand. What didn’t work was adding additional one on one meetings for
my team members. This actually had a negative effect on their productivity,
and often stressed them out more than they were before. What did work was
give them help with outsourcing, then adding a meeting for them, then take
it away the following week so they did not sustain their stress.
I think I would change my approach the next time by starting with a less
experienced team, with more team members, accept the over budget initially,
then gradually add them the help they needed as the project went on. I think
this would have given me a better idea of how they reacted to different stress
levels and tasks as the project ran it’s course.
Tensions between Top Down versus Bottom Up objectives:

I think the tensions regarding top-down management during this scenario were
more present than they have even been in previous simulations. We had to
produce a high level product in really an unrealistic timeline. This caused
high amounts of stress on my team that was almost impossible to manage. I
 think if I were actually on this team as the leader, I would have had a
meeting with top management to ask for additional resources or additional
team members in order to meet their goals. I think in real life this would
have put tremendous stress on the relationships of top management and
those on the team level, which would cause a rift that would be extremely
difficult to repair. From the perspective of a top level manager, I think this
would be a failure in their leadership. If I were in their position, I would
have done a more detailed analysis of the situation, and what I could
realistically accomplish with the resources I had. This would have
dramatically changed with productivity and overall morale of the teams.

Making Tough Tradeoffs:

The way I would deal with this situation is to have a meeting with top management
and be a voice for my team members. I would as for additional resources or
an extended timeline in order to meet their objectives. Additionally, I would
have told my team that I was fighting for them, and that if we didn’t meet
the timeline I would take the fall for what happened and take the heat from
top management. The tradeoff I made in the end in this situation is to go way
over budget, and accept the results. It was almost impossible to manage the
team’s stress and meet the project deadline if I’m going to stay under
budget. Overall, I think this situation revolved around tradeoffs. Either you
were over budget, or you were under schedule, but there wasn’t a win-win.
This is where we need to exercise our leadership, conduct this analysis, and
articulate our concerns to management and try to be effective as possible int
her tough situation.