The project team at a technology services provider is in the testing portion of a project development cycle. To resolve the errors revealed in testing, the team requires the technical expertise of one of the team consultants, the lead developer. The manager has just learned that the consultant has not been attending work regularly for the past three weeks. The consultant's expertise is critical to the project's success and the manager doesn't want to discourage him from continuing with the project. If the absences are due to personal problems, the manager needs to consider why the consultant did not divulge this information. The manager also needs to rectify the situation with the project team members and the other managers. Finally, he needs to consider whether or not his management style is at fault and how to avoid a similar situation in the future. The project launch date is approaching and the manager has 24 hours to resolve the issue.
