Interfaces and linkages with internal and external customers are critically important for all knowledge teams. The development of a knowledge team must be based around the team's key customer and supplier relationships. Even among knowledge workers, of course, there are important differences between engineers, accounts receivable clerks, and management in function, education level, and interdependencies. All knowledge teams are unique because their dynamics and functions are unique. Flexible levels of authority and involvement allow for optimal results depending on the needs of each team.
Many knowledge workers have their work organized around project teams.
Too much autonomy may result in engineers and scientists becoming too ingrown and ignoring business and customer priorities. A project manager should allow shared participation in project goal setting and planning, but then hold the team accountable for results. Equally important is the project manager's role in providing a linking function to marketing, customer, and business priorities that sometimes rapidly shift. To keep knowledge teams from becoming stagnant, Katz recommends making occasional changes in group membership. The unique traits of each type of knowledge worker group must be taken into account when forming knowledge worker teams.