Lining Up a consultant to Improve Teamwork.

As director of education and training, you oversee all in-house training programs. Five weeks ago, Pat Dyrud, Vice President for Human Resources, asked you to set up a training course on teams. You tracked down Sarah Reed, a Business Communication professor at a nearby college.

“Yes, I do workshops on teamwork,” she told you on the phone. “I would want at least a day and a half with participants—two full days would be better. They need time to practice the skills they’ll be learning. I’m free Mondays and Tuesdays. I’m willing to work with up to five teams at a time, as long as the total number of people is 30 or less. Tell me what kinds of teams they work in, what they already know, and what kinds of things you want me to emphasize. My fee is $2,500 a day. Of course, you’d reimburse me for expenses.”

You told her you thought a two-day session would be feasible, but you’d have to get back to her after you got budget approval. You wrote a quick memo to Pat Dyrud explaining the situation and asking about what the session should cover.

 Two weeks ago, you received this memo:

Today, you got approval from the vice president to schedule the session and pay Professor Reed the fee and reimburse her for expenses to a maximum of $750. She will have to keep all receipts and turn in an itemized list of expenses to be reimbursed; you cannot reimburse her if she does not have receipts.

You also need to explain the mechanics of the session. You’ll meet in the Conference Room, which has a screen and flip charts. You have an overhead projector, a slide projector, a laptop computer for showing PowerPoint slides, a video camera, a DVD player, and a TV, but you need to reserve these if she wants to use them.

Write to Professor Reed. You don’t have to persuade her to come since she’s already informally agreed, but you do want her to look forward to the job and to do her best work.

Hints:

• Choose an organization you know something about.

• What do teams do in this organization? What challenges do they face?

 • Will most participants have experience working in teams? Will they have bad habits to overcome? What attitudes toward teams are they likely to have?

 • Check the calendar to get the dates. If there’s any ambiguity about what “the second week of next month” is, “call” Pat to check.

I've asked the Veep for budget approval for $5,000 for a two-day session plus no more than $750 for all expenses.I don't think there will be a problem. We need some of the basics: strategies for working in groups, making decisions, budgeting time, and so forth. We especially need work on dealing with problem group members and on handling conflict-I think some of our people are so afraid that they won't seem to be "team players" if they agree too readily. I don't want some ivory tower theorist. We need practical exercises that can help us practice skills that we can put into effect immediately. Attached is a list of 24 people who are free Monday and Tuesday of the second week of next month. Note that we've got a good mix of people. If the session goes well, I may want you to schedule additional sessions.