SESAM - A Simulation System for Project Managers

Abstract

Project management is an adventurous task: Just like an explorer making his way through foreign land, project managers have to be well-prepared and trained to reduce risks and turn the adventure into a foreseeable enterprise. For project manager training, we initiated SESAM (Software Engineering Simulation by Animated Models). SESAM is our software engineering research and education project; we simulate software projects as interactive adventure games. Trainees can playfully gain experiences and try different scenarios. SESAM comprises a modelling approach, a notation, and a programming system which supports model building, animation and validation. A first, simple simulation model has been used in a project management training course. The model turned out to be sufficient to an amazing extent: Many effects well-known from real projects arose during the simulation. The participants made many characteristic errors which led to plausible project distortions. The evolution of the simulated projects provided valuable feedback to teachers and participants.