1) How would you advise Kate to proceed? Analyze the conversation she had this morning. What went right? What went wrong?
2) What should Kate’s next steps be?
3) How can she use the technology of the Internet and teleconferencing to enhance team development and performance?
This case shows one example of the types of problems that can be encountered with the use of technology, such as the Internet, to help link participants on a distributed project team. In this case, a combination of geographically-dispersed project team members, faulty technologies, and other concerns are hampering progress on the project. Furthermore, an additional problem is that distributed project teams do not allow for standard team development stages to occur because team members can only interact in formal channels. Without informal communication, it becomes more difficult to build trust and enthusiasm among members of the project team. Kate’s difficulties here are by no means abnormal, but a managerial plan for handling these communications will go a long way toward helping her and the team get through the awkward “newness” of geographically-dispersed project teams.