Sally, a junior project manager for Project Red, is in the process of holding a status meeting for the project manager, who stepped out to deal with a procurement issue. The tension in the room has been high as a result of two critical resources who suddenly quit.

John and Rick, both team members, have been arguing for 5 minutes over who will take over the tasks. Sally has tried to interject multiple times with no success. The side conversations don’t make managing the meeting any easier. What is the most likely cause of the inefficient meeting?

A. The absence of the project manager B. Poorly defined communications management plan C. Poor recognition and rewards D. Lack of ground rules