The project manager notices that project activities being completed by one department are all taking slightly longer than planned. To date, none of the activities/work packages have been on the critical path, nor have they affected the critical chain planning that has occurred. The project manager is bothered by the problem, since four of the next five critical path activities are being completed by this department. After making three calls, the project manager is finally able to converse with the department manager to determine what is going on. The conversation is slow, because both speak different native languages and they are trying to converse in French, a shared language. To make communication easier, the project manager frequently asks the department manager to repeat back what has been said.