Assiignment: Managing Conflict Virtually
Even though your team presented Lauren with an agenda for the kickoff meeting, along with ground rules, she used the agenda below for the kick-off meeting.
She set expectations for status reporting, the technologies to be used, and performance management. The types of communication the team agreed on included e-mail, instant messaging, and web conferencing. The team also agreed to use Microsoft SharePoint to report project status and to create a virtual community for team members to build relationships and trust. Lauren asked all team members to upload their pictures and their résumés to jump-start the community.
Lauren's Agenda:
· Getting-to-Know-You Activity
· Team Goals and Objectives
· Technologies We Will Use (open discussion)
· Virtual Community (pictures and bios)
· Status Reporting
· Team Meetings
· One-on-one meetings
Despite setting ground rules, the following conflicts arose within Lauren's team:
· Lags in e-mail responses generated mistrust between two team members.
· One team member complained that the other team members tried to use instant messaging to solve complex problems and resolutions are never reached.
· There has been an uneven exchange of project knowledge.
In your assigned groups, you are to:
· Recommend actions Lauren should take now to resolve these conflicts.
· Discuss what Lauren could have done to prevent the conflicts from occurring in the first place.
· Recommend actions Lauren can take to minimize team conflict in the future.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.