Directions for International Team Consulting Project

1) Working in a group, you will select (in a drawing) one of the five international communication cases available at our web site, conduct research into the cross-cultural communication differences you discover between the parties in your case (who are from various countries). Then you'll collaborate to write a team consulting report. (This will be a short report, but note that in reality they can be quite long.)

Taking a problem-solving approach, the report must identify the international communication problems in the case (supporting your conclusions with research), identify possible solutions to the primary problems (after comparing and contrasting the possibilities), propose a solution to the appropriate audience (i.e., offer recommendations, and implementation plan, and reasons), and finally, establish credibility through careful documentation. The report should be accompanied by a cover letter, and should include a well-written executive summary (4-5 pp., plus letter, references, and appendices).

It is the content of this report which your team will present later to the class, imagining that the class is your client, and so careful research and writing in the report phase will lead to a more substantive and successful team presentation to the client in the second phase.

2) Make a team presentation to the class, imagining that your classmates are members of the client company in your case. Present your findings, clearly identifying the problems you uncovered, informing us about the cross-cultural or international communication differences you discovered when researching your case, presenting your team's recommendations, and implementation plans for the client company. Each team member should plan on speaking for 2-5 minutes (Maximum 30 minutes per team). The presentations will be video-taped, and visual aids are required. Note that each person in the class will be asked to evaluate each team's performance for grading purposes, using a standard form (including evaluating your own team). Also note that, theoretically, the top executives of that company (the people who hired you) would likely be sitting in the audience, listening to your presentation. (So tone and attitude are critical!)

Progress Report from Team Managers; Minutes of Meetings

Team Managers will write a progress report, in memo format, using progress report headings (1 p.). The report should outline the progress of your group so far toward completing the consulting report and preparing for the team presentation. Among other elements, it should indicate which team members did which parts of the overall task; it should also identify any obstacles you faced as a team; it should make clear when and under what conditions the team worked well, as well as any times the team worked poorly (and what, if anything, the team did to improve performance). You may also offer comments on the specific communication dynamics of your team.

Managers should attach the minutes of the group's meetings to the memo: the minutes should be written by team members other than the team manager, should show attendance, and should identify who wrote each set of minutes for each meeting. Also attach any notes that are relevant to your group's analysis of the task, and to your discussion of the problem in your case, and attach copies of materials that you used as references in solving your case and coming up with recommendations for the client in the case. (Managers will receive credit for the reports in their participation grade; members who write minutes can also improve their participation grade by writing up the minutes of meetings. The minutes must be typed and handed in with the manager's on-time report (max. of 2 sets of minutes per team member).

Individual Self-Appraisal Memo -- Focusing on Process --

View your video-taped group presentation, either alone or with your group. Write a memo that: 1) describes or outlines your part in researching and writing the consulting report and in organizing and presenting the presentation, and 2) includes an appraisal of your personal performance during the team presentation (mention content quality, delivery, appearance, etc.) (1 page). As you write this assignment, imagine that it is about someone else, and that it might be placed in an employment file for others to view and use, whether for advancement or other reasons.

It is usual in writing performance appraisals to lead with positive information first, such as, "the speaker used colorful and effective visual aids." If weaknesses are noted, it is usual to phrase them not as errors or mistakes, but rather as "skills in need of strengthening" or "areas to work on," for example, saying: "the speaker gave a factual presentation, and in future talks could cite more sources of his/her information." It is also usual to comment on missing elements. That is, saying that "the speaker could have improved the talk by having a strong conclusion," is more tactful that saying, "the speech ended abruptly without any conclusion."

The difference in the phrasings offered above is admittedly "political," but it is important that you know that in much business writing, tone and word choice definitely matter a lot. In reality, performance appraisals are legal documents which may advance or harm an employee, depending on who reads them and how they are phrased. For this reason, experts suggest that performance appraisals should be as objective as possible, recording rather than evaluating, wherever possible, and if evaluation is necessary, making sure that conclusions are based on clear examples and objective evidence, preferably from more than one source. Because this appraisal is about you, it may not seem like you need to be so careful, but try to do it anyway - it's good practice!

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Revised 10-22-98 by EdC