You are a consultant specializing in meeting efficiency and leadership. You were hired by a large off-price apparel and home fashions retailer headquartered in Connecticut to help streamline communication between the company's national and international divisions.

Your contacts who hired you, Evelyn Cooper and Elias Dillon, are tasked with rolling out a new treasure-hunt shopping experience worldwide. Although the company is highly profitable, some European groups resist systemwide changes. Evelyn set up a videoconference between her office and others in Ireland, Germany, and Estonia. Elias had suggested she set the meeting for noon Eastern.

At the designated date and hour, Evelyn and Elias found that the German and Estonian teams were not logged in. They waited, delaying the video session. When the Germans and Estonians finally did log in, Evelyn and Elias launched into their presentation. The two meeting hosts explained the strategy behind the new shopping experience in a PowerPoint presentation that was filled with complex sales data they had not distributed before the video call. Evelyn and Elias heard ringing cell phones and typing in the background as they took turns speaking. Their German and Estonian counterparts looked unusually casual and seemed much less friendly than in previous sessions. Still, the Connecticut team pushed through their one-hour presentation without asking for feedback.

Your Task: Prepare a memo report recommending ways Evelyn and Elias might have improved the virtual meeting. Start by describing the problems you have observed and then offer recommended solutions..