Book excerpt: An internationally renowned author offers an overview of how people and jobs can best be connected in a new era. 'Beyond the Team' draws on Meredith Belbin's extensive work with organizations worldwide to give further insights into the workings of teams and groups. The modern job needs to be actively interpreted and constantly revised in terms of the balance between a team role, a work role and a professional role. The increasingly complex demands of modern jobs can be aided by a colour system as tested in international trials. A colour based top down, bottom up form of communication creates sensitive feedback with a special value where members of a workforce do not share common language. The socially complex nature of communication about work in a new era offers parallels with the intricacies of the social insect world. Information technology is extending human networking with the potential of creating a form of organization closer to what can be achieved in superorganisms. 'Beyond the Team' shows how eventually, the mature team can learn to distribute work between its own members by giving a comprehensive understanding of how to manage both team roles and work roles.