Family Life

This book is a simulation that is simple to run and which puts project management skills into the realistic and tense context of the frantic preparations for the issue of a monthly magazine. The simulation can be used for training in the skills of project management, planning and decision making, budgeting and team-working. In order to make sure that the next issue of the magazine is a success, teams have three sessions of 1 hour 15 minutes, 15 minutes and 15 minutes, representing the three weeks before the magazine goes to print. During this time, they'll need to identify which articles and features to produce; what mix of internal and freelance staff to use; how to maximize advertising revenue; what marketing strategy to pursue to boost circulation; and how many copies to print. The simulation includes all of the material needed to brief and debrief the participants. There is also a CD ROM containing four-colour versions of the participants' materials, along with a pre-prepared Excel spreadsheet into which you will enter the teams' decisions and which will provide you with a print-out of their results and their profit (or loss).