Rocket Your Projects: Part 2

How to Play Rocket

Using colored popsicle sticks, blueprints, small screws, and nuts, individuals and/or teams (depending on Covid) jump into building the Rocket. It’s a kid’s toy – how hard can it be? What do you think is the first problem that occurs?

Within 15 minutes or so, someone yells, “We’re done!!!” and the facilitator goes to check on the results. As the facilitator looks over the built Rocket, she/he tells the builders that the blueprint shows that they are wrong, primarily because of haste and competition. This continues until each team has completed the task.

Remember clearly what caused the build of this project to be threatened:

• No one asks why they are building a rocket.
• No one asks any questions.
• It’s a race between teams, even though the facilitator didn’t say it was.

Taking tight screws off a popsicle stick rocket is frustrating and difficult for adult fingers that are trying to fix the mess they made. Others improv, making beautiful, creative colors that aren’t needed and were not budgeted for. This is what we do every day in our work.

Game Results

After the activity, the facilitator will conduct a debrief session where participants will discuss their experiences during the simulation and uncover the DARE model of project management. The gameplay approach rapidly teaches participants the importance of each phase, from planning to completion. This way, they can practice what is referred to as a “flexible structure” and how to overcome project management problems.

Check out Rocket: The Project Management Game for your next training session.