Sheppard Moscow's Steve Bridge was a panel member at a recent 'question time'-style event to mark the launch of the new book, How to Manage in a Flat World, published by FT-Prentice Hall.

Steve was joined by former Trade & Industry and Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt; the chief executive of SSL International Garry Watts; outgoing UK MD of Alstom Transport Eric Prescott; and President of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & development Vicky Wright.

The event was held at FT-Prentice Hall publishers' head office in London, with a video link to Reliance Industries, Mumbai India, and was co-chaired by the authors Philip Whiteley in London and Susan Bloch in Mumbai. The inclusion of a video link, with several participants at either location, provided a live demonstration of the benefits and some of the limitations of video-conferencing in the 'flat' world of instant communication, reduced company hierarchies and rising economies.

Steve Bridge told the meeting that, where team members are rarely able to meet, face-to-face meetings need to be reserved for the purposes they are best suited for: getting to know people, building trust, building vision. 'They should not be used simply to give PowerPoint presentations,' he said.

Other points were that:

'Culture' has many dimensions - not just national, but generational, organisational and professional.

Younger people who have grown up with texting and the internet do seem able to 'bond' more effectively without having met face to face.

Markets are changing at a dizzying rate of speed.

Patricia Hewitt gave fascinating insights into international team working at a political level; with 25 members of a team of EU ministers, each entitled to speak in the mother tongue, with simultaneous translation. The same principles from business apply in politics: for resolving tough matters, there's often no substitute for face-to-face meetings and establishing trust.

Sheppard Moscow and our clients are featured in the book, a ground-breaking work on how a dispersed team can function and thrive in a rapidly changing world economy. Teoh Swee Lin from Sheppard Moscow Asia Pacific office is one of the 25 executives featured.

She says in the book: 'There are instances when I see it [virtual communication] as a problem - this is when we rely only on the virtual communications, for example using e-mail to negotiate or argue a point and thinking that it's good enough. That's when a point may get misinterpreted. But if we use e-mail to communicate the information before a negotiation or a debate, it allows both parties to be better prepared.'

How to Manage in a Flat World, by Susan Bloch and Philip Whiteley, is published by FT-Prentice Hall a Pearson Education imprint. It is available at major bookstores and www.amazon.co.uk price £17.99.

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