The Next L.A. / Reinventing Our Future : Virtual Workplace Inc.
In times of need, do corporations have a social responsibility to invest in Los Angeles?
If we value teamwork and communication, are we rewarding them?
Are my work life an personal life in balance?
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The office of tomorrow may be not so much a place as a way of thinking; its employees may work out of several far-flung locations; its hallways may be nothing more than the ones and zeros of computer language. The office watercooler is simply souped-up e-mail, with face-to-face socializing saved for organized get-togethers like a quarterly company picnic. Anything is possible. Get used to it.
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1. Chief Executive Officer
The CEO discusses her company’s newest product, the Vwidget, with customers in Mexico and Japan. They talk via a three-way video conference hookup initiated from her office in a mini-mall near her home.
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2. Chief Financial Officer
VWI’s CFO, working from rented executive suites office building, faxes a memo on Vwidget production costs to the secretarial pool at a 24-hour neighborhood copy shop. Meanwhile, he makes weekend plans with his daughter, a student at VWI Academy, the school run out of VWI’s Satellite Assembly Office.
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3. Secretarial Pool
A team of temps sitting at a rented computer work station in a neighborhood copy shop handles many of VWI’s clerical needs - the latest in “disposable office” technology.
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4. Sales Chief
A dedicated “carcooner,” VWI’s sales ace chats on his car phone, checks jai-alai stats in his car-puter, and faxes a copy of a newly updated Vwidget sales brochure to the secretarial pool for printing.
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5. Marketing Chief
After adding the finishing touches to a news release about a Vwidget upgrade, the marketing chief hangs out at the virtual watercooler and rehashes last night’s jai-alai tournament with the sales chief.
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6. Customer Service Rep
The VWI customer service representive, working at home while he watches his toddler, passes on a customer complaint about Vwidgets to the Satellite Assembly Office. He dupes a copy of the message to his job-share partner.
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7. Assembly Office
The production chief faxes the latest Vwidget stats to the CEO, showing how well the assembly line is dealing with staggered shifts, which minimize traffic congestion near the Satellite Assembly Office. An addendum reports that the corporate concierge/ombudsman has noted a slight increase in the Telecommuter Isolation Index and suggests scheduling an extra company picnic.
About the Company
Virtual Workplace Inc. was founded in 1995 P.Q. (Post Quake) Los Angeles to fill the city’s growing needs for Doo-Dads, which evolved into a product known as Vwidgets. The company has received numerous awards for innovative use of telecommuting, staggered work shifts, job sharing and family-friendly policies.
Quotes:
--”We had to structure the company this way after they started putting tollbooths at freeway entrances. Driving just became too expensive.” Chief Executive Juanita Doe.
--”Employees just love the daycare and school we have at the Satellite Assembly Office, and it has reduced turnover incredibly.” VWI Academy Principal Mark Rogers.
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Researched by NANCY RIVERA BROOKS / Los Angeles Times
