Mobile Menu

  • Home
  • About
  • Network Strategies
    • Elevate Personal Performance and Well-being
    • Accelerate Role Transitions
    • Execute Critical Work through Networks
    • Propel Organizational Agility and Alignment
    • Promote Rapid Innovation
  • Speaking
  • Work With Rob
  • Courses and Tools
    • Resources: Elevate Personal Performance and Well-being
    • Resources: Accelerate Role Transitions
    • Resources: Execute Critical Work through Networks
    • Resources: Propel Organizational Agility and Alignment
    • Resources: Promote Rapid Innovation
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • White Papers
    • Books
      • The Microstress Effect
      • Beyond Collaboration Overload
    • Media
  • Contact
  • Search

Connected Commons logo

Rob Cross is the founder and research director of the Connected Commons, a consortium of over 100 leading organizations accelerating network research and practice.

Explore Connected Commons

Visit Connected Commons Store

  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Rob Cross logo

Speaker, Educator, Consultant.

  • Home
  • About
  • Network Strategies
    • Elevate Personal Performance and Well-being
    • Accelerate Role Transitions
    • Execute Critical Work through Networks
    • Propel Organizational Agility and Alignment
    • Promote Rapid Innovation
  • Speaking
  • Work With Rob
  • Courses and Tools
    • Resources: Elevate Personal Performance and Well-being
    • Resources: Accelerate Role Transitions
    • Resources: Execute Critical Work through Networks
    • Resources: Propel Organizational Agility and Alignment
    • Resources: Promote Rapid Innovation
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • White Papers
    • Books
      • The Microstress Effect
      • Beyond Collaboration Overload
    • Media
  • Contact
  • Search
Execute Critical Work Through Networks

Execute Critical Work through Networks

Manage connectivity inside and outside groups for top performance.

Traditional team principles and many cutting-edge collaborative practices are ineffective for the way people need to work today. The result is poor execution of critical work.

Today’s teams are often larger and more fluid than conventional teams, and work is increasingly interdependent. Our research has put the spotlight on the downside of the technologies and organizational designs intended to improve collaboration—and revealed how top-performing leaders are managing collaboration in these groups differently.

Pairing leadership research with decades of data about the networks within organizations, we can now help other leaders drive efficiency and agility at the point of execution—where teams are working on new products, strategic initiatives or with top clients.

To become more efficient, effective and agile, leaders must understand and activate informal networks and engage team members in specific ways. Key strategies include:

  • Manage four network dimensions. To ensure groups are working together and information and ideas flow, leaders need to facilitate connectivity at four critical points in the network: the center, the fringe, select silos and external boundaries.
  • Overcome dysfunctional patterns of collaboration. Even with the best talent, failure to effectively manage collaborative patterns consistently results in patterns of connectivity that de-rail teams. Our research shows 6 archetypes of team failure. For example, the hub and spoke—over-reliance on one or a small set of leaders or experts—results in slow decision making, burnout of individuals and lack of engagement from the team. The opposite archetype, the over-whelmed team—derails performance when all team members are overly involved resulting in insufficient time to do individual work, inefficient decision making and lower engagement.
  • Create a climate of trust, purpose and energy. The level and quality of interpersonal collaboration has a significant impact on employee engagement. Our research revealed that effective collaboration is driven by relationships in which people experience trust, gain purpose and feel energized—and specific leadership behaviors that create that environment.
  • Shape the external ecosystem for performance and engagement. Leaders create the context for their teams to succeed by adapting what is in their control and working around what is not. We know six practices are key: shape the work coming in, obtain resources, influence decision makers and influencers, adapt best practices for quality and efficiency, innovate via adjacent expertise and cultivate team member connectivity.

MIT Sloan Management Review

A Noble Purpose Alone Won’t Transform Your Company
The level and quality of interpersonal collaboration has the greatest impact on employee engagement. Read Article

Manage Networks of Relationships, Not Just Teams

Manage Networks of Relationships, Not Just Teams

Teams are the primary structure for getting work done, but the reality of teamwork has changed.

Many employees are on twice as many teams as 5 years ago, with 81%-95% actively serving on multiple teams simultaneously. Is it surprising that 60% of teams fail to meet their strategic objectives?

Our research consistently shows that managing collaboration and cultivating networks inside and outside of teams is a significant driver of success.

Agility Accelerator

Apply the Network Strategy

Today’s teams are often larger and more fluid than traditional teams, making many conventional management practices ineffective.

Through the Agility Accelerator, a self-managed collaboration analytics platform, leaders can activate informal networks and engage team members to become more efficient, effective and agile where it matters most—at the point of execution.

View Courses and Tools    Watch Agility Accelerator Intro Video

Activate Networks at the Point of Execution

Try our new tools to earn better results, faster.

  • NEW! Agility Accelerator
    A powerful new way to envision collaboration
  • NEW! Team Agility Workbook
    A step-by-step guide for leaders

Learn More

Team Agility Workbook

Related Content – Execute Critical Work Through Networks

You May Also Like

Managing network

Manage the Network, Not Just the Team or Unit

Collaborative Dyfunction

6 Types of Collaborative Disfunction—and How Teams Can Do Better

high performance

Want High Performance? Take Action on Trust, Purpose and Energy

ecosystem

Shape the Ecosystem to Improve Team Performance

Footer

About Rob Cross

Rob CrossRob Cross has studied the underlying network dynamics of effective organizations and the collaborative practices of high performers for more than 20 years. Through research and writing, speaking and consulting, and courses and tools, Rob’s network strategies are transforming the way people lead, work and live in a hyper-connected world.

More About Rob

About Connected Commons

Connected Commons logoRob Cross is the research director and a co-founder of Connected Commons, a consortium of leading organizations accelerating network research and practice.

Explore Connected Commons

Visit Connected Commons Solutions

Site Footer

Connect with Rob!

  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2025 · Rob Cross · All Rights Reserved