The first meeting begins with an introduction from the project manager and continues with a general discussion of the project and how the work will be distributed among the group members. All team members agree that the work will be distributed equally, so that no one is overly burdened and all can contribute equally to the project.
While distributing the work, it is suggested that some of the more
difficult work, the design of component interfaces and the integration
of components, should be done by the engineers from UW, Nate and Jesse,
while the programming should be handled by the engineers from McMaster,
Lee, Jane, and Susan.
In the second meeting, Jane asks if she could assist with some of
the interface design, because she can't do much of her programming
work until the interfaces are decided. Nate snickers and rolls
his eyes. Jesse quickly tells Nate to stop and turns to Jane,
explaining that interface design is difficult and requires a great
deal of skill and experience.
Once Nate works out the component interfaces and distributes his
interface decisions to the team, he interacts with the programmers
several times a day, checking that their code conforms to his
interfaces
and offering suggestions for how they can to solve their design
problems. The programmers bristle at the unasked-for help, but
they don't say anything.
After another meeting, Jane overhears Lee say he will need some
help from Jane or Susan to finish his programming task on
schedule. Jane offers to help, saying
that she probably has more time than Susan, who is married and has a
child.
Lee agrees and gives Jane some of his work.
Nate, who likes to be the centre of attention, tells a joke or two at every meeting. He often prefaces his jokes by stating, "This is a somewhat sexist (or racist) joke, and I probably shouldn't be telling it, but...." He goes on and tells an offensive joke.
During these early stages, the project manager observes the team. She notes that many of the discussions in the group become nontechnical and could almost be described as bickering. The five employees do not appear to be acting together as a team and already their overall progress is slow. Because they are among the brightest young employees in the firm, the manager is disappointed. She expected more from them.