Thanks for your helpful reply. It's much appreciated. I think that sounds like a very good idea. I suspect that the manager is a bit anxious about the project, due to the delayed start. Also he doesn't not really know me yet, so he cannot be sure how well I will engage with the task. One slight problem is that a short meeting, involving all interested parties, has already been scheduled for Monday afternoon. It would have been better for me to meet with him, on a one-to-one level, ahead of this. Hopefully the group meeting won't raise additional problems. I will send him an email, tomorrow morning suggesting that we have an individual meeting later in the week.