The CFO of a global Clinical Research Organization (CRO) sought to raise financial literacy across a complex structure. Insight Experience partnered with corporate and regional finance teams to deliver tailored programming at more than one level. A culminating three-day simulation for project and finance managers and directors emphasized cross-functional collaboration and financial alignment, supporting improvements in profitability, forecasting, and performance monitoring.
Following rapid growth, the client organization expanded to more than 20,000 employees managing clinical trials in over 100 countries. A new CFO inherited a siloed structure and sought to build understanding of how individual actions influence performance, quality, and client satisfaction. Financial impacts were often delayed, and project reporting remained complex. At the same time, shifting roles, regulatory changes, and the impact of COVID-19 created ambiguity around collaboration between project leaders and finance. These challenges unfolded alongside broader organizational transformation—new leadership, updated systems, and evolving strategies—highlighting the need for stronger business acumen and cross-functional alignment.
Insight Experience designed a cascading rollout that began with a one-day program for the expanded management committee, followed by a global three-day business acumen experience for senior managers and directors. The final and most extensive phase was Business Acumen Essentials for Project and Finance Teams, a tailored three-day program for project managers worldwide, aimed at strengthening business acumen, improving decision-making, and enhancing collaboration with finance teams. Participants examined how choices—from resource allocation to project planning—affect financial performance, while demystifying key financial concepts like income statements and cash flow.
A major focus of the program was building alignment between finance and project leaders. Simulation scenarios, role plays, and peer discussions emphasized the strategic value of cross-functional decision-making, giving participants a safe environment to explore the real-world impact of everyday choices. The content reinforced key concepts like profitability, project performance, and employee metrics, helping teams build shared understanding and stronger collaboration.
While each phase was role-aligned, Business Acumen Essentials for Project and Finance Teams became the initiative’s cornerstone—in both scale and impact.
As a result of Business Acumen Essentials for Project and Finance Teams, participants developed and learned skills to:
Understand how project and gross margin are calculated and influenced by both project and finance team decisions.
Analyze the cash cycle of a long-term project and identify opportunities to improve cash flow and working capital.
Recognize the levers to enhance quality and client satisfaction—and how effective, collaborative conversations support both.
Apply leadership skills such as prioritization, delegation, forecasting, and effective communication in a project-finance context.
Strengthen collaboration between finance and project leadership by building shared understanding of roles, responsibilities, and mutual impact.
Explore real-world project and finance challenges in order to build mutual understanding, deepen cross-functional trust, and strengthen collaborative partnerships.
The client engagement began with more than 20 in-depth interviews across the organization—including Finance Business Partners, Project Leaders, Directors, Specialists, and Functional Leads—to identify best practices and key challenges. These conversations shaped the design of the learning experience, ensuring the case study and simulation reflected real-world dynamics faced by cross-functional teams. Throughout the process, Insight Experience collaborated closely with finance and project leadership and reported to a high-level steering committee for strategic oversight.
The program launched with a senior-level kickoff that created early momentum and visible commitment from leadership. Designed around organizational priorities, it reflected strong stakeholder input and aligned with broader business transformation goals.
Each phase of the journey was carefully sequenced to build engagement and readiness at every level—from senior decision-makers to frontline leaders—reinforcing shared language and financial understanding across functions.
The program was delivered over three half-day sessions with short reflection assignments between sessions to reinforce learning. Prior to the live sessions, participants engaged with foundational content including a case study, initial simulation decisions, an introductory video, and a short survey. The first day focused on grounding participants in core financial concepts such as profitability, margin, and project performance, followed by an introduction to the simulation and the first round centered on project initiation.
Day two emphasized financial drivers such as cash flow and billing, as well as the evolving dynamics of project delivery through two additional rounds of the simulation, including a role-play component.
The final day challenged participants to apply their learning in a diagnostic exercise using simplified, real-life financial data and explore advanced topics like EBITDA, backlog, and the long-term financial impact of projects. The program concluded with a final simulation debrief, an executive Q&A, and a commitment-sharing session that reinforced next steps and takeaways.
The simulation placed participants in the role of a Project Leader at Planet Protect, a fictional company offering environmental monitoring and remediation services. Operating in a competitive, compliance-driven market, Planet Protect delivered long-term projects to industrial clients. The simulation mirrored real-world business and operational challenges, emphasizing the tension between delivering high-quality service and achieving financial goals.
Participants managed a project for PowerPro, a multinational energy conglomerate, involving soil, water, and air quality monitoring across multiple domestic power plant sites. Over a simulated 13-month timeline, they made decisions on budgeting, staffing, scheduling, and client engagement, while balancing deadlines, regulations, and expectations. Success required integrated decision-making that supported both operational and financial outcomes.
Deliberate ambiguity challenged teams to weigh competing priorities, navigate incomplete information, and assess the downstream impact of their choices, deepening insight and cross-functional collaboration.
The program scaled globally following a successful pilot, with 41 virtual programs from 2020–2023 serving approximately 800 participants. Over the course of the program, the company saw widespread engagement and enthusiasm, with participants consistently highlighting the relevance of the training and the effectiveness of the experience, particularly the business simulation. Senior leadership noted the program’s powerful influence on participant development and its alignment with real-world challenges.
Beyond participant satisfaction and strong evaluations, the client documented significant business benefits. These included improved decision-making, accelerated acceptance of new processes, and cost savings from more strategic vendor management, improved negotiations, and better-informed financial decisions. The organization also saw improvements in profitability and a consistent reduction in Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), as project leaders began prioritizing timely milestone billing—a shift attributed in part to the program’s emphasis on cash flow awareness.
Here is what some participants have said about this program:
“The simulation … allowed us to see the results of very complex business decisions.”
"AWESOME!! AWESOME!! AWESOME!!! I wish there were more training classes that had this impact and drive to success.”
“The simulation exercise was a wonderful tool allowing us to compare our initial results and then final results after applying the techniques that we were taught. The role playing allowed me to get honest feedback from peers.”
“I feel this should be required for all functional leads in order to enhance real change across the company.”
“The simulation was great. The mix of personnel across SBUs was very beneficial as it allowed for shared experiences and allowed for making connections that I may not have otherwise sought out. Sharing experiences and listening how they tended to handle challenges or how they would approach a problem provides a new perspective.”
Business Acumen Essentials for Project and Finance Teams won a 2021 Silver award from the Brandon Hall Group in the category of Best Learning Program Supporting a Change Transformation Business Strategy.