MarsLander Q&A Board

This board will show you the most common and most asked questions from our trainers about the MarsLander simulation. Please send your questions to office@gamingworks.nl and we will answer them and add the questions and answer to this page.

Date 15/7/2019

Flight Operations is not active!

A: In some of the simulations FO is not very active. This role is responsible for the flight and ‘owns’ the ISSUES and EVENTS and must make sure these items are solved on time. We expect this role to work close to the Product Owner to set priorities of the items in the backlog. Most of the time this person is not active since he/she is not involved in this prioritization process. Also, when the team works on work-arounds to solve issues, FO must be involved to look at the solutions and check the flight plan to find the best answer. The teacher can make this role more active during the reflection moments to discuss this role and also ask questions about how the flight is going, if the issues are all solved within SLA, how they work with the Service Manager etc. Also check if he/she receives enough timely information about the status of issues etc.

Customer Support is not active!

A: This role is responsible for customer satisfaction goals. We agreed to increase this level from 60 – 75, 5 points per rounds growth. We like to see this role working hard to get this result done. For this, this role must work together with the product owner, must be involved in priority setting. During reflection, we can talk about this role and explore how this role played a part in the decision making process? How did they manage the CSAT? Also, if in round 3 the level of CSAT is lower than 70%, we will not bring any new requests and demands. This will punish the team since they will not receive any value creating work. Only some issues, events and customer feedback. So, try to involve this role. Challenge this person to work on the CSAT.

Date : June 27,2019

Which Knowledge Cards do we move from System Engineer to Service Desk after improvement 3?

A: We move the cards with a SD logo from System Engineer to Service Desk. This reflects the fact that knowledge is transferred. SD can solve issues or events by using this Knowledge cards.

How can we involve the Problem Owner, Sales Director and Customer Support?

A: We have several options to involve the PO, SD and CS. The team must explore the role of the Product Owner. The Product Owner ‘owns’ the Digital Services and in this role the PO must prioritize the work in the Backlog. The PO must involve the SD and CS to discuss which of the work items must be done first and which can wait. De Sales Director must focus on the financial target, $ 5M sales. The Customer Support must focus on Customer Satisfaction levels. If Customer Feedback is not solved on time, the level stays low and as a result the teacher will keep some of the Requests on the teacher table. This means that the team will not receive new business opportunities. As teacher you have to make sure that these 3 roles are discussed during the improvement cycles.

Which Capacity Boards are we using, the high capacity ones or the low capacity ones?

A: We have added two Capacity Boards for System Engineer, Development and Vendor in the BOX-set. The capacities are 5 or 6 units of work per sprint. It’s up to you which board to put on the desk of the students. The Quick Reference shows the standard setup. But you can experiment with the boards to find the right balance.

How does the team knows when to implement Emergency Technology 1 and 2?

A: Emergency Technology 1 and 2 are ‘owned’ by the System Engineer. Both ET 1 AND ET2 are MUST HAVES for Feature 2 and ET 1 is a MUST HAVE for Request 7. First the System Engineer must be involved as early as possible during the PLAN or BUILD/OBTAIN stage. This is the moment when the SE can start planning these ET implementations. If there is no ENGAGEMENT, the actions to implement ET 1 and ET 2 are very reactive. Second, the Change Release Manager can see on the Quality Checklist that ET 1 and ET 2 are needed. So both elements can help the team to identify the need for ET 1 and ET 2.

Must the team put the EVENT on the Release board after solving the EVENT?

A: YES, the answer on an EVENT has also a CHECK SUM that must be checked by Change and Release management. At the start of the simulation we tell the team that ALL release must go through Change and Release. ONLY of the team implemented ‘Standard Changes Service Des’  (Improvement 7) the EVENT can be place on the release board of the Service Desk (which will be handed out to the SD after Improvement 7 is done.