A: Ideas for an agenda for Lauren’s kick-off meeting. B:Explain why you chose ea
ID: 352572 • Letter: A
Question
A: Ideas for an agenda for Lauren’s kick-off meeting.
B:Explain why you chose each agenda topic.
C: Identify the ground rules for the team, and propose which ground rules she should mandate and which ones she should negotiate.
Lauren is assigned team leader of a cross-functional team for a very important project to the company. Lauren reviews the profiles of the six team members her boss gave her. She is both intrigued and anxious when she sees that team members are geographically dispersed.
Lauren works in the Atlanta office. One team member is in India; another is in Germany; and the rest live in the United States, but in different time zones. Two staff members are in the eastern time zone (Virginia and North Carolina) and two staff members are in the central time zone (Texas and Louisiana).
Lauren has never managed a virtual team and is unsure what special skills it will take to be successful. She begins to wonder what competencies are necessary for virtual team leaders and members. She studies the team member profiles and creates a matrix to evaluate each member’s strengths and weaknesses from the perspective of working virtually. She includes herself because she realizes she needs to evaluate her own strengths and weaknesses. Lauren thinks about the challenges and opportunities she will face managing this virtual team.
Team Member Matrix
Team Member
Location (Time Zone)
CommunicationPreferences
Virtual experience
Strengths
Weaknesses
Lauren (Team Manager)
Atlanta, GA (Eastern)
No
Building and maintaining trust.
Performance management and coaching.
Networking.
Appropriate use of information technology.
Developing and adapting standard team processes.
Managing across cultures.
Santosh
Pune, India (GMT+05:30)
Instant messaging
Yes
Interpersonal awareness.
Use of technology.
Self-management.
Project management.
John
Wilmington, NC (Eastern)
Telephone
No
Networking face-to-face.
Use of technology.
Spanning boundaries.
Joyce
Norfolk, VA (Eastern)
Yes
Self-management.
Project management.
Networking.
Helga
Berlin, Germany (Central European)
SharePoint; Webconferencing (with video)
Yes
Use of technology.
Interpersonal awareness.
Project management.
Adam
Dallas, TX (Central)
Instant messaging, discussion boards
No
Networking via technology.
Spanning boundaries.
Use of technology.
Brenda
New Orleans, LA (Central)
Instant messaging; blogs; SharePoint; e-mail
Yes
Use of technology.
Interpersonal awareness.
Networking.
Spanning boundaries.
Self-management.
Team Member
Location (Time Zone)
CommunicationPreferences
Virtual experience
Strengths
Weaknesses
Lauren (Team Manager)
Atlanta, GA (Eastern)
No
Building and maintaining trust.
Performance management and coaching.
Networking.
Appropriate use of information technology.
Developing and adapting standard team processes.
Managing across cultures.
Santosh
Pune, India (GMT+05:30)
Instant messaging
Yes
Interpersonal awareness.
Use of technology.
Self-management.
Project management.
John
Wilmington, NC (Eastern)
Telephone
No
Networking face-to-face.
Use of technology.
Spanning boundaries.
Joyce
Norfolk, VA (Eastern)
Yes
Self-management.
Project management.
Networking.
Helga
Berlin, Germany (Central European)
SharePoint; Webconferencing (with video)
Yes
Use of technology.
Interpersonal awareness.
Project management.
Adam
Dallas, TX (Central)
Instant messaging, discussion boards
No
Networking via technology.
Spanning boundaries.
Use of technology.
Brenda
New Orleans, LA (Central)
Instant messaging; blogs; SharePoint; e-mail
Yes
Use of technology.
Interpersonal awareness.
Networking.
Spanning boundaries.
Self-management.
Explanation / Answer
Laurens agenda for the kick off meeting
Reasons for selecting the Agenda point wise
Ground rules