Everybody can talk to everybody else. Instead of cubicles, the office has several conference rooms with whiteboard wall panels that are scribbled over with programming code, sales figures and funny drawings. The company also has an untraditional hiring process in which applicants not only meet managers but also potential co-workers and project partners. Successful applicants must receive unanimous approval, said marketing vice president Wendy Gibson. At Tensor Information Systems in Fort Worth, another technology company, two or three programmers share an office to work on developments.
Employees exchange instant messages.
You want to be very flexible, and management has to choose which issues they make a point about. Peters, the TCU professor, said the workplace at technology companies sends the message that shareholders, workers and customers have equal value. Established companies could find it hard to break old habits and adopt some of the dot-coms' workplace strategies, he said, but many incorporate some of the ideas.