Thanks for the suggestion. Yes I agree that knowing each other beforehand is strongly desired. However, when you really reduce it down to the actual reason, I think it comes to trust. Knowing someone and working alongside them builds a trust relationship that carries you through. It's becoming apparent through the responses of the survey that the platform will have to address building this trust level , whether that's through a short term program with networking, or something else - i'm going to work to figure it out!
