You've been appointed by your manager to be team leader for an important new project. The team involves people from the following countries: China, Germany, India, Italy, and the United States. Your first assignment is to come up with a communication plan. You decide that given the time differences, the team should use email as its primary means of communication. But you know that when people write using email, there can be misunderstandings due to tone, style, and levels of directness. These issues might be amplified by the differences in cultures between team members. Use material in this chapter, Chapter 4, and on the Internet to research these issues. Write an email to the team outlining guidelines for communication for this project.

Remember that the email you send needs to reflect the guidelines you are proposing.