Cultivate an Inter-Functional Community It is the role of each team participant to surface any and all unforeseen issues as they become apparent, so that a timely determination can be made as to their expedient disposition. It is the responsibility of the team to hold themselves accountable to both the project map and each other. These interdependent roles cannot be implied or discovered through revelation. They must be recognized and understood at the outset if the group is going to set itself right and navigate its course effectively. Coming to the T able There is a communication premise that suggests most people are unable to really listen until they have first said what they have to say. The mind must be cleared before new information can enter. The premise has some value when approaching design team interaction--particularly the first group encounters. We have all known people who are too busy formulating their next re- sponse to hear what is being said in the moment. Task force participants come to the table with a host of expectations and anticipated agendas. Until each of those issues are addressed and put where they belong inside or out- side the group's list of issues, the team will find itself either dragging through its inventory of to-dos or sailing past points that should have been examined more carefully. Bottom line: Collaboration is not going to happen until ex- pectations are addressed. Although potentially uncomfortable and time-consuming, the team leader has to get every member to verbalize their questions and concerns. It is the classic spigot analogy. Keeping one's initial point of view hidden not only stifles listening, but it builds pressure within the holder. As the group moves in directions that are not aligned with the member's hidden preferences, the participant finds it harder to focus and more difficult to perform collaboratively. The spigot is closed as the water pressure continues to build and push forward. Eventually the pressure is too great to be contained. The resulting explosion may come from anywhere along the pipeline and have little to do with what was driving the team member nuts to begin with. The resulting anger, confusion, and mistrust on everyone hit by the spray will be hard to reverse. Communication, verbal or nonverbal, is irreversible and irrevocable. Once it has been done or said, "Never mind" isn't going to change anything. 189