At every level of society, people got together, physically and online, totalk about what they were doing to prepare for the date change and the dreadedYear 2000 bug. Like the bug, networking cut across boundaries, drawing peoplefrom every kind of organization. Within the federal government, agency staff members and agency heads sharedinformation and cooperated with their counterparts in other agencies, ignoringbureaucratic and turf boundaries. In the private sector, banks, airlinesand other industries followed suit, temporarily putting competition asideto cooperate on a common problem. Although the Year 2000 bug is no longer an issue, the successful techniqueof using networking to share best practices and find common solutions shouldcontinue.
Costs are small comparedwith the size of the problems that can be tackled successfully.
When participants see the benefits of being part of a network,they will contribute ideas enthusiastically. Network organizers alsoshould recognize that membership on a dynamic cross-boundary team can bea powerful contributor to employees' job satisfaction. A successful network stays active. Useful informationmust flow regularly, with a balance struck between too much and too littletraffic in the online group. The networkshould not be permitted to become a forum for speechmaking.