1. Project Team Development

Background:

Dixon Software Solutions, a small software development company, specializes in applications for smartphones. Dixon has been growing quickly, and management has appointed a new project team to create a new GPS navigation application for certain smartphones. Nelly Blazer has been assigned to be the project manager for the group.

The Current Situation:

Nelly Blazer has the nagging feeling that everything is not going well with her project team. The group has been working together for about a month, but they just don't seem to click. Nelly notices she has a new email message and quickly takes a look:

Email

To: Mitzi Greeley

From: Ned Jones

cc: Nelly Blazer

Mitzi,

I am confused by lines 50 to 100 in your code. Can you explain what you meant?

Ned

Nelly is surprised. Mitzi and Ned sit in office cubes directly across from each other. Why are they communicating by email on such a minor question? Couldn't they have had a quick conversation about the issue?

She hears the sound of another email arriving in her inbox:

Email

To: Anita Candela

From: Sarah Barksdale

cc: Nelly Blazer

Anita,

I'm reviewing some of your QA test cases, and I need more information. Can you help?

Thanks,

Sarah

Nelly immediately knows this message will provoke several more. Sarah's email poses many unanswered questions. Which QA test cases does she mean? And what types of additional information does she need?

Nelly is disappointed by how little face-to-face interaction is occurring on the team, even though the team members are all colocated on the same floor. She wonders what she should do to improve the situation.

Questions:

1. Summarize the situation presented in this case by 3~4 sentences.
2. What sorts of communication problems does Blazer's team appear to have? What might be the underlying causes of these issues?
3. What should Blazer do in terms of team development to improve the situation? Provide an action plan for Blazer to improve the team performance.