Mini Case LifeLong Learning and TeamworkOladele just couldnt take it anymore. She got up from her cubicle
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Mini Case LifeLong Learning and TeamworkOladele just couldn’t take it anymore. She got up from her cubicle and put on her coat.“Where are you off to?” asked her coworker Wei. “I just need to get away from here for afew minutes,” replied Oladele, “I’m going for a walk and I’ll be back in 20 minutes.”As she walked around the downtown core of St. John’s, she wondered how to fix theproblems her strategy team was having realizing their goals. Three months previously sheand four others had been taken away from some of their regular duties at the headquartersof LifeLong Learners Inc. to form a special project team. The company offered customizedcourses to mid-sized businesses. Their instructors travelled to the company site to teachanything from occupational health and safety to leadership development. Recent developmentsin online education, however, were starting to make their services redundant. Manyof their clients could now buy similar courses online and have their employees completethem any time they liked. Many employees at LifeLong Learners thought in-classinstructionwas more effective, but the market didn’t seem to agree. A special strategy teamwas formed to determine whether the company should begin to offer online courses and, ifthey did, how best to implement the change. The strategy team was to report to the CEOand the chairman of the board of LifeLong Learners.When the team first met, they spoke with the CEO and the chairman of the board inseparate meetings. The CEO told them she had serious concerns about online education.She was concerned they were moving too fast in an uncertain direction. “If we do go intoonline education,” she stated, “it will be important to have all the details sorted out and agood quality control process before we begin. We’ll only get one chance to get it right;otherwise, our reputation will suffer.” The chairman of the board had a different perspective.“I am very excited about this initiative,” he said, “and I think we should plunge in, find outwhat works, and correct as we go along. The most important thing is to have a product outthe door as quickly as possible to begin to claim the online market.”Three months later, the team seemed mired in inertia. Three of the members haddevised an online development course contract, and wanted to invite employees to submitproposals and begin development right away.The three supporting the initiative were Oladele, Katie, and William. Oladele hademigrated from Jamaica four years ago and seen many successful online learning initiativesthat reached out to students in remote areas in her home country. She thought LifeLongLearners was ridiculous for waiting so long to get started, something she explained to hercolleagues at every opportunity. Katie and William had both been born and raised inSt. John’s and they also couldn’t understand the slow pace. “Results, results, results,”William was fond of saying. Well, after three months they had no results to speak of. In fact,they couldn’t even get the entire team to agree to move forward and try something.The other two team members were very concerned that no formal process had beenunder taken to fully assess the market. There hadn’t been any professional legal consultationaround creating the online course development contract either.“We can’t just make something up,” complained Wei. “This will set a precedent thatwill impact us all moving forward. I’m not sure online education is right for us, but if it iswe should have a detailed plan formalized before we move ahead. We can’t just figure thisout as we go. Resources have to be in place first, not to mention training.” Wei had emigratedfrom China two years ago, and he struggled to understand the careless attitude displayedby Oladele, Katie, and William. He secretly worried about their commitment to theproject’s success because they wanted to move forward so hastily.The final member of the team, Ranj, had moved to St. John’s from the Philippinesseven years ago. He agreed with Wei’s assessment, but was very concerned about saying soand contradicting the chairman of the board; nor did he want to contradict the CEO. Sowhen the team had discussions, he would often abstain from commenting much.This afternoon’s meeting had been the final straw for Oladele. Not only would Wei andRanj not agree to support their new contract, they were threatening to complain to thechairman that she was being difficult and disrespectful—all just because she had forcefullyreminded them of the importance of doing something soon. Oladele knew the team wasdisintegrating. After a long walk to clear her head she decided to …Discussion Questions
1. Is there anything this team might have done at the beginning to avoid the difficultiesthey are facing? If so, what is it?
2. Outline some of the underlying reasons why the individuals in this particular work teammay have difficulty communicating with each other. What might they do about it?
3. What strategies might Oladele use now that would move the team forward in a productivedirection?
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