The annual Enginuity competition provides management and leadership training that is relevant and appropriate for construction professionals worldwide. Each team is given the same computer-simulated challenge, and 18 weeks to establish and execute a business plan.
Actions taken from that point onward are up to the individual teams.
Teams were tasked with managing a UK-based global construction business that has only been in existence for one year and needs a new management team to run the company from 2020 onwards. The simulation operates in a global economy based upon real world economic, political and environmental events that can impact a business.
Each team devised a business strategy that involved understanding of the economic environment where the company operates, and the strengths and weaknesses of the business. Competing teams made strategic decisions based on financial management, overhead management, procurement and job progression.
The simulation includes periods that begin with the previous management team in 2019 before the new team took control, and then periods reflecting events and performance in 2020, 2021 and 2022. During the later years, beginning with the 13th period, a dozen finalists compete head-to-head against one another for work, creating a more uncertain and pressurized environment where skill and team dynamics created in the earlier years can impact the outcome.
The journey was long and challenging for Building Suspense, especially in a year where a global pandemic required social distancing between teammates. All teams can now evaluate their performance and determine what they did right, and where they could make improvements that will have an impact on the real world.
Fortunately, the pandemic did not cause a hinderance to the team’s collaboration throughout the competition.
“Considering the distance and time zone difference between the team members the pandemic had much less impact than if our team were from within the same office,” Haff observed. “That said, the most difficult part was overcoming the learning curve, as the software is so in-depth.”