Directions: Read the case study below, then answer in essay format.

Case Study: Team Launch

The time for the first meeting of a new product development team is nearing. The team's goal is to create the next generation of kitchen appliances for the company. The team is comprised of a total of 7 members from engineering (2 members), product design (1 member), marketing (2 members), manufacturing (1 member), and finance (1 member). This is the first time these individuals have collaborated on a project. This project will be the main work for the team members for the next eight to ten months.

As the team leader, you need to get the team started quickly on the project. Management has given you all an overall goal for the project, but you have had limited time to plan how to manage it. Because of the limited time for completing the project, you are concerned about getting the team off to a good start. As the team leader, your goal is to identify strategies for a) launching the team in such a way that results in effective team performance and b) planning the first team meeting to ensure maximum success of the team.

Given the information above, how would you, as the team leader, plan to launch the team? This includes all of the considerations you would make beforethe first meeting

Hints:

You might want to set up like this: "To ensure this team was successful, I would take active steps to ensure each member plays a valuable role in the team (citation from text or lecture about member roles). This is important because of x, y, and z (citation). I would ensure this by doing a, b, and c.

Given the information above, and what you wrote in the previous question, what would you do duringthe first team meeting to ensure the team launches successfully? Let's assume you have two hours for your first meeting.

Hint: Feel free to design the two hours of the meeting.

• (e.g., we will start with introductions by doing a, b, and c. This will do x, y, and z (citation) and is important because of d, e, and f (citation))

Given the information above, in what ways would you modify this to be a virtual team?

Hints:

1. What strategies would you use to manage this team virtually?

2. How would you disband this team?