I just don't like anything really structured. I'm not saying not having facebook would make me want to work for a company less, but rather that would be one possible indication of company culture, among others.
Workplace Boss caught me on the internet...advice?
- Thread starter eurasiangirl
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I just don't like anything really structured. I'm not saying not having facebook would make me want to work for a company less, but rather that would be one possible indication of company culture, among others.
OP, I wouldn't bring it up again. If anything else is said, THEN explain that you frequent news sites, but that's it.
As for my company - I'm lucky that it's very lax in the rules department... it's 100% normal, common, and a daily occurrence to walk through my floor and see people with Netflix open on one monitor and our ad sales system open on our second monitor. I tab back and forth from facebook to work constantly on IE and always have Outlook open on monitor 2.
As for my company - I'm lucky that it's very lax in the rules department... it's 100% normal, common, and a daily occurrence to walk through my floor and see people with Netflix open on one monitor and our ad sales system open on our second monitor. I tab back and forth from facebook to work constantly on IE and always have Outlook open on monitor 2.
Fully agree.
I think those of us that work for companies like this should be thankful. I feel like I have the best of both worlds and am more productive. I usually even have my iPod playing a movie just for some background noise (my office is completely private and can get too quiet). If my boss walks in he doesn't care what's going on as long as he sees me working. But if the rules were to change tomorrow, so be it. That's my job and I need it.
I find it interesting that this thread has gotten so many responses, haha. I wasn't expecting that. Anyways, my personal situation has been resolved, its all good, there are no hard feelings!....thanks for the spectrum of interesting advice.
I think the main point to take away from this is that it boils down to the fact different workplaces have different expectations, security and technology policies, etc. Its beneficial to clarify these before a misunderstanding happens.
Also, let's not be snarky and rip on each other - its obvious that people here work in varying industries and fields in the US and abroad. There WILL naturally be differences - in workplace culture, in how people perceive technology policies, people's personalities and preferences in general, plus generational differences. Let's all keep an open mind....
I think the main point to take away from this is that it boils down to the fact different workplaces have different expectations, security and technology policies, etc. Its beneficial to clarify these before a misunderstanding happens.
Also, let's not be snarky and rip on each other - its obvious that people here work in varying industries and fields in the US and abroad. There WILL naturally be differences - in workplace culture, in how people perceive technology policies, people's personalities and preferences in general, plus generational differences. Let's all keep an open mind....
Lori,
Are you seeing the same thing I am, which is formerly lax companies now starting to tighten up what they allow relative to the Internet? It seems like with a few things, such as work from home and access to all sites was abused so now those things are being pulled back.
Absolutely. No one should assume that in the future they'll have access to anything that is even remotely related to social media or other non-business or research related sites. If you want to surf on company time, you'll have to use your own device. Additionally, large companies DO monitor what you do online. The last company I worked for provided supervisors with reports on what sites employees were on. Specific industries that are involved in housing customer data -- banking, government, health care -- are going to be the ones who are engaging in these practices.
I think the challenge will be for companies to monitor productivity more so than web traffic. The federal government's policy is to permit limited personal use. There are many ways to slack - call friends, play solitaire, knit, etc. Personally, I need a little mental downtime now and again since I work on some pretty complex issues. Then again I'm a salary employee carrying around work related reading material this weekend.
I fully agree with you, Lori -- I think we're going to see a different concern focusing on information security. By browsing these various websites on company computers, you run the risk of exposing company data to who knows what out there. Too many companies have insecure data policies that leave them vulnerable to outside attacks from unsuspecting employees that click on links (whether in emails, webpages, whatever).
As for productivity, agreed that it's hard to measure/quantify. But if people walk by your office and it seems like you're doing work, it really doesn't matter if you are on break or not -- it's the perception that people will remember.
maybe the difference in companies' (and people's) attitude about internet usage during work hours is explained by the kind of work their employers do. it's easier to monitor hourly employees who perform specific tasks and whose work ends the second they leave the workplace. i think the more complicated the work, the more freedom should be given.
i work in a self-directed environment. my time is governed by my projects: i have spent 72 hours straight at work and i have left after 4-hours. i read in the evenings and come in to work every weekend to prepare so that i can "hit the ground sprinting", as my old VP used to say. i don't have set "breaks" during my work day. i don't do social networking or conduct personal business on company computers, but i always have either NPR or the New York Times open and will read articles during down time as i need the mental break. frankly if my employer has an issue with that, i would look for another job.
i work in a self-directed environment. my time is governed by my projects: i have spent 72 hours straight at work and i have left after 4-hours. i read in the evenings and come in to work every weekend to prepare so that i can "hit the ground sprinting", as my old VP used to say. i don't have set "breaks" during my work day. i don't do social networking or conduct personal business on company computers, but i always have either NPR or the New York Times open and will read articles during down time as i need the mental break. frankly if my employer has an issue with that, i would look for another job.
I actually see it going in the opposite direction - especially with more and more companies getting into facebook/twitter/whatever... they want their employees to engaged in those things with them, therefore they need to give them access.
I agree that it's normally large corporations that block those things but I know a lot that don't anymore.
IG - what's interesting at my company is that as internet access becomes more restrictive (blocked social media sites, bulletin boards and forums like PF, entertainment etc) and monitoring of "legal" sites becomes the norm, it's not uncommon to see employees openly using ipads. Professionals, administrative assistants, sr level execs...all working at their cubicles or in their offices, with the laptops and their iPads
Exactly! I am guilty of using my iPhone at my desk. But the difference is that I'm not accessing company networks. That's a big part of restricting these sites.
Yup. Companies are locking down their networks, controlling what sites employees can access and trying to minimize the loss of productivity from staff stretching the legal use of company internet.
However, that has not stopped employees surfing the blocked sites, it's only moved access off the company network and onto personal smart devices being used in plain site.
Most companies don't have policy's restricting use of employee owned devices using carrier networks.......at least not yet
Well, I guess I should clarify what I meant.
I've never had a full time job, but I've had internships every summer and winter the last 4 years. If I didn't work in some small subset of finance (where the internet access is notoriously lax, see my post about how guys frequently watched porn at work) I worked in tech (namely, Facebook and Apple) where social networking is kind of a big source of information (asking your friends for programming advice kind of happens a lot and you would be really stuck without it).
Things could change, but at the moment, it would be rather strange if a company told me, oh by the way, we block google chat and facebook at work. If I ever end up working for a bank or some other company, obviously my perceptions would be reset and I wouldn't presume anything about an industry I'm not familiar with.
I've never had a full time job, but I've had internships every summer and winter the last 4 years. If I didn't work in some small subset of finance (where the internet access is notoriously lax, see my post about how guys frequently watched porn at work) I worked in tech (namely, Facebook and Apple) where social networking is kind of a big source of information (asking your friends for programming advice kind of happens a lot and you would be really stuck without it).
Things could change, but at the moment, it would be rather strange if a company told me, oh by the way, we block google chat and facebook at work. If I ever end up working for a bank or some other company, obviously my perceptions would be reset and I wouldn't presume anything about an industry I'm not familiar with.