Should businesses allow employees to access social networking tools during work hours? I would agree with Boulton that organizations can successfully use these tools. Implementation of policies based on trust while informing employees about online community including negative and positive behaviors associated with community assist with productive use of the tools. Behavior guidelines can be developed and explained to employees to further improve the behavior in social networking environments.
Organizations and employees need to be aware of the impacts of these tools on the company’s network bandwidth, productivity, and company reputation. One prediction is that social networking tools will be necessary to maintain a competitive edge in business. I personally believe this is true after instructing and observing high school students recently.
Reference
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Messaging-and-Collaboration/Gartner-Analysts-Decry-Facebook-Twitter-Bans-at-Work/?kc=EWWHNEMNL081408STR1
8 comments:
I might be wrong, but I think there might be legal requirements to keep logs of blogs and instant messages (something about legal discovery rules that went into effect a couple years ago). This has an influence over the rules and probably has a chilling effect all its own.
Good point! The article didn't mention federal regulations. Upon further research, I located Section 508 which outlines IT requirements for publicly accessed applications and web sites and NARA Part 1234 Electronic Records Management. I remember another section businesses need to comply with, but I can't remember the name of the regulation.
I think the blog needs to be context to work. For example, IBM and other companies allow blogging if its to brainstorm solutions to company problems. I also know that companies will "reward" with $ if contribution are used to help solve problems.
Hal
I think the schools and business can benefit from the social networking technology. I know that some business now check social networking sites as part of a background check. This can provide businesses valuable information about the person’s character.
Schools can use this technology as a learning tool. The student would have to login to use the social networking tool. This way the school can monitor who is doing what. The school can learn what is important to their students. They can analyze this data like a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool. This tool will help them analyze trends.
Brainstorming can also occur in chat area such as Campfire. I enjoyed opening my own free Campfirenow chat room Gemmichigan. I now understand the mechanics used by my vendor to set up our business chat rooms. In the free version 4 simultaneous chatters are allowed.
There must be huge vats of stored nonsense all over the place just because the gov. wants everyone to record everything that anyone has said. What a waste of storage. Way back in the dark ages (~1989) MS was asked to provide email records for a FTC case. They printed them out and sent them in two 60-foot trck containers. Imagine having to read all that!
wwlikf
I think that social networking does have its place, as long as it is properly done. That is the trick, making sure the employees are not spending tremendous amounts of time reading through blogs or posting things that they shouldn't be.
Myself, I have a vast array of contacts through my years in the industry that I frequently call upon for advice, and vice versa. All of us are available via a messenger client of some sort, and it works well. However, one must be cautious not to reveal too much about your project or company information that should not be released to the public or is covered under NDA.
I find social networking at work to be exactly what should be occurring. More and more software development is done using Agile Scrums that encourages frequent contact between developers and includes the customer in day-to-day activities to reduce extraneous activities that do not add value. Social networking is the lubricant for this process.
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