Virtual Teams...

The most important point I found in Cross' Book (chapters 2&3) was the importance of collaboration across hierarchies. I think that often times people understand the importance of lateral communication in organizations and fail to remember the importance of communication with said chain of command. The smoothness of this process (hierarchical feedback/communication) is a great determining factor to the company's success. If the process is slow, and the staff member can not make a move without feedback from the Manager, and there are three or four links in the proverbial chain, then the company could quite possibly be missing out on all sorts of time-sensitive opportunities. This is the type of problem the military often faces.

Another key point that I thought might be worth exploring is the importance of alliances across organizational boundaries. Stove piping is a problem that can easily be avoided if this sort of cross-organizational communication occurs. We saw this problem with the information given in regards to a substantial portion of the false information feed to the public in regards the the Iraq invasion.

I think "network awareness" is also another key point in the success of an organization. If everyone knows who is in charge of what aspect of business and exactly what everyone specializes in, then processes move much more swiftly. We work in the age of globalized corporations. Most companies set up headquarters in one country and have numerous hubs in different countries (and more often than not, on different continents). It is extremely important to maintain open communication not only within that particular hub, but throughout the entire company at every location. This prevents needless overlap and wasted expenses.


Cross,Rob. The Hidden Power of Social Networks. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2004.