ROMEO AND JULIET

THE SITUATION
XYZ Company provides web-hosting servers, custom websites and custom website applications to its corporate clients. XYZ's employees are young enthusiastic - many are right out of college, and for most this is their first job. As new projects come in, web designers and programmers are assigned from a pool in small teams to each project, returning to the pool as assignments are completed - those in the pool work on in-house or bench projects.

Company policy discourages office romances, but they have proven unavoidable. However, when you have a large and youthful crew, it is not practical to terminate employees based on the vagaries of interpersonal relationships when you've invested training and education to create long-term employer loyalty. Team dynamics have been affected and productivity has been undermined by linkups and breakups both inside and outside of teams. Some romantic liaisons have turned into very ugly working relationships in a short span of time.

CURRENT TECHNOLOGY
Management usually becomes aware of unproductive personal relationships after a problem has arisen, and usually through the rumor mill or other unsanctioned message pipe. Once a relationship is already known to be problematic, management's options tend to be limited, and tend to result in the loss of at least one of a pair of individuals involved (usually the one least valuable to the immediate short-term goals of the company). The effects of workplace relationships usually begin affecting productivity long before management becomes aware of them, and often create ticklish situations for co-workers.

THE VIEWSENDER SOLUTION
viewSender can generally detect negative and positive changes in relationships between employees based on keywords found in their computer-based communications. It can make managers aware of changes in relationships between employees without putting another employee in the position of having to tell management themselves. Managers can then mitigate damages before they occur, counsel those involved and alter team assignments to fit changing dynamics in employee chemistry.