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Online & MobileVizrt breakingthe normAt the Dhaka office in Bangladesh,old customs are being replaced bya flat structure.Story reprinted with kind permission from the Norwegian peace corps, FK Norway12I held the diagram of theorganizational structure upsidedown, so that the boss appeared tobe lowest ranked in the hierarchy.Dag Henning Rinden / Project Consultant / Vizrt Bangladesh– We have no servants in our office. Thestaff here have to make their own coffee,said Chief Operating Office Momenul IslamMilton, as he showed us around the openoffice landscape.Having to prepare your own beverage inthe workplace might seem a matter of courseto most, but in Bangladesh it is normal tohave servants. In Vizrt it is different. Everymorning the employees find bread, mayonnaiseand butter on the counter in theshared kitchen. They also have access to teaand coffee. But nobody prepares the mealfor them.– In Bangladesh, those who can affordit have somebody to serve them. That’s thenorm. We have had this tradition ever sincewe were under British ruleWhy are so many Bangladeshi people stillmaintaining this old practice?– Because it is part of our mentality,and of course because it is convenient tohave somebody to do the dirty work for you.Norwegians staying here for long periods also benefitfrom the same facilities. But this idea of having servantsis not appropriate anymore. Look at what happened inEgypt, the turmoil. Globalization and social networkingon the Internet expose people to different cultures, andmake them realize that they want a flat structure. Peoplewant to be treated equally, Momenul said.Vizrt has very good working conditions comparedto many other Bangladeshi companies. Fixed workinghours from 8 AM to 5 PM, salaries described as “good”,and 20 days’ paid vacationannually for all employees. Vizrthas exchanged Bangladeshiand Norwegian The Peace Corpsparticipants between Dhaka andOslo since 2007.– The collaboration withThe Peace Corps is one the keyfactors in our success. Throughthe exchanges we have learnedabout the high demands andexpectations of our customers inEurope, and about their culture.You cannot learn that by readinga book, said Momenul.Dag Henning Rinden is the current Peace Corpsparticipant from Vizrt Norway. During his stay in Dhaka,he is in charge of eight staff, but he doesn’t want his colleaguesto perceive him as their boss.– I held the diagram of the organizational structureupside down, so that the boss appeared to be lowestranked in the hierarchy. I did that to show the staffthat they are the ones who are important – they are theones doing the job. My function is to facilitate them toperform as well as possible. We want a flat structure inthis company; that is the reason why I sit with the otheremployees in the open landscape. My desk is no largerthan theirs, said Dag Henning Rinden.1. The MAM Team Manojit, Amit and Rashed busy with VML5 development.2. The DHAKA OFFICE has nearly a hundred employees3. system admin Ekram in action!4. Equal Treatment Dag Henning Rinden wants a flat structure inside Vizrt, andexpects to be treated no differently from the eight staff he manages.BANGLADESH. Soon hiring their 100th employee, Vizrt Dhaka is our biggest research& development office. The team handles customer support and works closely with ourother development offices for our online and mobile solutions.The Norwegian Peace Corps arranges reciprocal exchanges of personnel betweenorganizations in Norway and developing countries. The objective is to contribute to lastingimprovements in economic, social and political conditions in the world.34The Vizrt Catalogue 2011 87