Quick easy replys to (3) discussion questions- Rubric attached

Please answer this (3) Discussion – ONLY NEEDS TO BE COUPLE SENTENCES ONE PARAGRAPH

Responding to Discussions

judgments.

(1)

When planning a global video conferencing meeting, Binder (2007) suggests the following priorities that should be considered for the meeting:

• Understand your audience and their role in the project: Considering what needs to be discussed and with whom before a meeting can avoid gatherings that feel “useless” to the audience and ultimately do not benefit the project. It will also help you identify the purpose of the meeting, allowing the group not to waste time discussing tasks that the stakeholders present at the meeting do not directly impact.
• Begin the meeting with brief informal discussion: Allowing a short period for casual conversation is a quick, easy team-building exercise. Building trust between team members will only enhance the project’s quality.
• Consider various time zones and personal time of participants: This will increase participation as more members will likely attend if the meeting time fits their schedule.
• Respect and learn from cultural differences: In the meeting, there will be a wealth of knowledge and experience from different groups and personality types. Use this to the project’s advantage while assigning tasks and developing innovative techniques.
• Be direct: Staying on task is key, so be sure to redirect the conversation back to the point of the meeting when necessary.

By following these priorities, the project manager can ensure that the meeting is successful and that all parties leave with a more thorough understanding of the project and a closer connection to their team.

Which of the aforementioned suggestions should be the top priority? Why?

(2)

In organizing a video conference meeting that involve several countries with lots of characteristics, there are five key priorities that I will do during the planning process, during the meeting, and after the meeting to ensure the success of the meeting.

The first is that prior to the meeting date, all the participants from my company will go through training on multicultural meeting mannerisms – and to cover those from all countries that may be in attendance at this meeting. This will help staff be more aware of what might come off as potentially odd or unusual behavior and help minimize misunderstandings. While this is likely minimized doing a video conference, there are likely still behavior that may happen that people may not be used to.

The second is communicating a time that the meeting will convene, and then when the actual meeting will start. This will give some flexibility to the start time to take into account cultures that might be more relaxed, but also make those in cultures that adhere much more to a specific start time, more comfort.

Another key priority for me is communicating an agenda well ahead of the meeting and regularly leading up to the meeting so that participants know what their role is, where they fit in, and what they should bring with them to the online meeting to effectively participate in the meeting. Some cultures may want more time to think about this or get feedback and prepare with others in their home countries to feel comfortable sharing in a remote meeting.

The next priority is communicating alternative methods for communicating or participating in the meeting. Since it’s an online meeting, I want to make sure representatives from each country know the various ways they can communicate during the meeting such as vocally, via chat, or through the surveys that will be offered throughout the meeting. As some cultures may be more vocal, others may want to share their feedback in alternative ways – it’s important that everyone feel that their input is heard.

The last key priority is to ensure that the meanings of words or symbols used in the online meeting are known and understood – we will be sharing a deck that has check marks or other symbols as well as terminology that may mean different things during the meeting. The first slide of this deck will illustrate the meanings for these so that people grasp the topics and information the same way as those words or symbols could mean different things to different people.

Even with great preparation and communication, miscommunication can still happen. How do you give feedback to someone who still is not an effective meeting participant when you need them to be ?

(3)

You’re asked to organize a video conference meeting involving several international time zones, nationalities, age ranges, genders, and cultures. What are your top five priorities to ensure a successful meeting? Focus on the communications aspect in a multicultural environment. Invite comments on one of your priorities.

Hosting meetings can be a challenging experience, hosting an international meeting adds an extra layer of complexity to the mix with different cultural and gender norms that a manager needs to consider. I’ve found that keeping the following priorities in mind when setting up a meeting to be beneficial to help members stay on task and keep meeting attendees engaged:

Set meeting agenda – I think creating and sending a meeting agenda at least 24hrs prior to a meeting is helpful for those that can’t attend, but also helpful for those who will potentially have trouble speaking the predominant language of the people attending the meeting. I think by distributing the agenda with enough time allows people to formulate thoughts and questions allowing for a more productive meeting.

Introductions – Having attendees introduce themselves helps break the ice a little for first-timers and I also think it makes meetings more personal when people feel like they know each other at least on a basic level.

Good audio/video equipment – I’ve learned through experience that poor AV equipment can derail a meeting, especially when you have a large group of people in one room and remote employees calling in. Poor audio can make it hard for those remote employees to follow conversations which can lead to people disengaging.

Record meeting or take notes – Even if the manager was able to find a time that works for everyone attending the meeting, there are bound to be people that still can’t make meetings for various reasons (vacation, doctors visits, etc.) recording the meeting or having a person taking meeting minutes and action item can help those absent team member keep tabs on what was discussed and also know what action items are in their court to address.

Time of day – Rotating time of recurring meetings or finding a time that’s convenient for everyone will go a long way in making people feel included in the planning process. It is also important to be conscious of events and time that other cultures value, for example, people that are Muslim or predominantly Muslim countries pray five times a day. It would be challenging to try and accommodate a meeting around a team members prayer schedule needs but I think acknowledging it and bringing it up

Language – The person running the meeting should be aware of the potential language barries be thought when facilitating the meeting by making sure meeting attendees speak slow and in a concise manner so everyone can understand them.