Initial Situation

The City of Helsinki faced the need to enhance the expertise of their ICT project managers and personnel within the Urban Environment Division. The aim was to improve their understanding of the ICT development project process, necessitating the creation of a new solution for onboarding and regular training purposes.

Solution

In response to this challenge, LessonLab partnered with the City of Helsinki’s Urban Environment Division to develop a tailored simulation game solution. This solution aimed to model the management process of the City of Helsinki’s ICT development projects. The simulation game mimics the key phases, events, activities, stakeholders, functions, decisions, and typical risks encountered in the real-life process. Moreover, it integrates with the City of Helsinki’s existing systems and operating guidelines, thereby ensuring a direct connection between gameplay and real-world processes and resources. The objective in the simulation game is to procure a new ICT system with optimal quality and cost efficiency.

Results

Through two dedicated training sessions, ICT personnel from the Urban Environment Division engaged in the learning experience provided by the solution. Feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive, with many citing the game’s comprehensive overview of the real-life process elements. The practical applicability of the contents facilitated a smooth transition from gameplay to real-life scenarios. Post-gameplay debriefing sessions fostered reflective discussions, enabling participants to share insights connected to the real-life process. This collaborative learning approach improved personnel capabilities in managing ICT development projects and fostered a shared understanding of project processes, tools, roles, responsibilities, potential risks, and best practices.

All in all, the training based on the simulation game proved to be an excellent method to train our personnel. It offered a tool to practice real-life processes in a risk-free environment, allowing for experiential learning and the application of theoretical knowledge. The collaboration with LessonLab has been an excellent and valuable experience for us.

Tia Kokkonen, PMO, City of Helsinki

Mikael Eklöf, Head of PMO, City of Helsinki