Integrity as important as profit at Dream Team Technologies
Business Report Correspondent
DENVER? Imagine waking up in the morning thrilled to go to the office. Imagine going to work in an environment that leaves you invigorated and inspired. Imagine that your work provides non-profits, businesses and educational organizations with an affordable, self-sustaining and sophisticated Web presence. Imagine work with no bosses.
All of this is reality for the people who work at Dream Team Technologies. Work is done in teams and according to individual’s strengths. Every company member, from office managers to founders, contributes to executive decisions, including hiring, in weekly all-team meetings. Everyone has equal input. Bryan LaMontagne, project manager, said, “The best part of working at Dream Team is that we can each act as CEO. It took some adjustment, though. I thought, ?This is great!’ But I was so used to holding back. I don’t know of any other company where you could say, ?This really isn’t working,’ and they’d all actually consider changing it.”
There are no bosses, but everyone has a coach. “A coach is more than a boss who tells you to do something,´ said Shawn Hazelwood, senior Web developer. “A coach, like any sports coach, is involved in having you get what you need to make things happen.”
On March 28, Dream Team Technologies was awarded the Colorado Ethics in Business award. The top 10 finalists included multimillion-dollar, multinational corporations. Dream Team, with 22 employees, is four and one-half years old.
Representing the Dream Team, Whitney Walpole, chief vision officer, said, “What if, by going to work, we went home better friends, parents, community members?” Employees assert that they do. Volunteerism, mentoring, leadership in sports teams, churches and other civic groups is almost universal. All conversations about Dream Team’s success and its unique atmosphere lead to its vision statement, which includes, “We are Dream Team Technologies Inc., a business dedicated to the fulfillment of the human spirit.”
Drew Gerber, director of sales and marketing, said, “For most companies, the vision becomes a nice plaque on the wall. We’ve actually turned away business that’s not in line with our commitments.”
Those commitments are numerous. First, Dream Team members are deeply committed to creating an environment of partnership, creativity, clear communication and effectiveness. Second, Dream Team Technologies empowers educational institutions, non-profit organizations and businesses with its Internet product, Viadesto.
Arthur Brock, chief technology officer, explained, “Our product is an extension or expression of our vision. We put the control of information in the hands of the people who have the information, instead of it belonging to some élite technical staff of Webmasters.”
Viadesto provides easy management of Web sites, intranet, extranet and e-commerce functions. It also drastically reduces the cost of a complex Web presence by combining the knowledge of a Webmaster, graphic designer and various other information technology staff into a Web-based application anyone can use. “We’ve built the expertise of a Web staff into the Web site,” Brock said. “You can change everything ? every graphic, every word ? on your site without any special tools or expertise. You click, type in text and hit ?submit.’ “
Out of commitment to community involvement, Dream Team hosts Inventing Business Series discussions. Business leaders discuss creating successful and fulfilling organizational environments.
“Most often, companies have great mission statements, but their internal structures don’t support them,´ said Cormack McCarthy, financial manager. Dream Team has created and continues to intentionally employ effective and novel internal structures to support its commitments.
In her acceptance of the Colorado Ethics in Business award, Walpole said, “We say it is possible for business to be a place that honors and serves people. Business can be a place where integrity is as basic a rule as profit. All of this is possible and practical.”
For information on Dream Team, Viadesto or the Inventing Business Series, call Whitney Walpole at (303) 228-3441 or visit www.dreamteamtech.com.