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Thread: News - Social networking banned by almost half of UK companies

  1. #17
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    Re: News - Social networking banned by almost half of UK companies

    Quote Originally Posted by miniyazz View Post
    It's hardly remarkable that Facebook is commonly banned. Makes sense - ban something that will (really very little doubt about it) decrease productivity. A better policy though, perhaps, might be to ban it informally (i.e. it's not allowed but not blocked) - enabling employees to use it during breaks if they wish.
    The problem with that is give someone so much as half an inch and there will be someone who extends that by a mile. It only takes one person to abuse it before everyone else does it.

    I'm amazed at how relaxed where I work are in relation to mobile phones. Mine always in my pocket apart from when I'm on break/lunch I've had it out on my desk next to my work PC because I've been expecting an important call and I will always seek permission to take it if my operations manager doesn't mind. Normally not a problem.

    My colleague who sits next to me, is always on his phone on Facebook which I think to be honest really extracts the pith. I'm certainly not going to grass him in but give him enough rope and he will hang himself.

    Its far better to just blanket ban it, then people know where they stand rather than some half baked not during works time but fine in your own break time situation, someone will defiantly abuse that privilege if given the chance.

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    Re: News - Social networking banned by almost half of UK companies

    Quote Originally Posted by Saracen View Post
    Or ignorance of the risks.

    Or, over time, awareness of the risks, or even action to address them, has increased.
    Maybe, but one of them was an IT multinational that focussed on B2B sales of phenomenally expensive business integration packages so I'd be surprised if they were behind on technology issues.

    Either way, it's a real pain in the neck. As ever, those who would use the system reasonable stuffed by the few who would exploit it. Not that it's a particularly new trend

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    Re: News - Social networking banned by almost half of UK companies

    Quote Originally Posted by Behemoth View Post
    The problem with that is give someone so much as half an inch and there will be someone who extends that by a mile. It only takes one person to abuse it before everyone else does it.

    I'm amazed at how relaxed where I work are in relation to mobile phones. Mine always in my pocket apart from when I'm on break/lunch I've had it out on my desk next to my work PC because I've been expecting an important call and I will always seek permission to take it if my operations manager doesn't mind. Normally not a problem.

    My colleague who sits next to me, is always on his phone on Facebook which I think to be honest really extracts the pith. I'm certainly not going to grass him in but give him enough rope and he will hang himself.

    Its far better to just blanket ban it, then people know where they stand rather than some half baked not during works time but fine in your own break time situation, someone will defiantly abuse that privilege if given the chance.
    Block anything and people find a way round it

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    Re: News - Social networking banned by almost half of UK companies

    Why not make people wear blinkers and ban them from talking to colleagues unless they can demonstrate ROI?

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    Re: News - Social networking banned by almost half of UK companies

    Quote Originally Posted by Apex View Post
    Block anything and people find a way round it
    Most IT policies I've seen make circumventing restrictions or other parts of the policy gross misconduct and a sacking offense. I know if I'm asked to write an IT policy the first rule is do not attempt to work around any other rules, i.e. using proxies/VPNs to circumvent blocking software.

    Is it really worth your job to use your work PC to check FB? I've heard of people sending saucy emails on their work account and getting hauled in for it, sometimes I can't believe people are so stupid.

    Work equipment should = for work purposes, as a tool.

    Personal equipment = do whatever you like on it, and up to businesses whether they allow these on the desk or not, that's more a grey area. I don't see the harm if employees still do everything asked of them in an acceptable timeframe, after all people usually respond better when treated like adults not children or prisoners. If people are not productive enough then fire them for it, if thats cos they were on FB then they are fools.

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    Re: News - Social networking banned by almost half of UK companies

    The blocking of social media sites seems very close to the clock-watching, bums-on-seats attitude that I've seen in many places. I despise this way of thinking! I'm lucky enough to work in an environment in which we are encouraged to produce results, not to be seen to be present between the hours of X and Y. This kind of target-driven work is far better, in my opinion, than being seen in the office/counting up working hours. Now I realise that there are very big differences between different types of work, but I think that most people recognise, whatever type of work you're in, that happy workers are effective workers. At times, I arrive late and leave early: for example if I've not got a huge amount on that day. This is always more than balanced out by the times I work late because I've got deadlines or have new results I really want to work on, and I don't mind working late under those circumstances, because I enjoy producing good results!

    It's my experience that giving employees the responsibility to manage their own working hours and practices helps to empower them and make them feel far more in control of their own work, which in turn helps keep a positive attitude in the workplace where results are the primary goal for everyone. Yes, there will always be people who abuse such trust and responsibility - but it's the job of managers to identify and correct this behaviour, or discipline the person, as necessary. It doesn't matter what system you have, those people will always require some sort of managerial observation in any case, might as well keep the silent majority happy in their work!

    Oops, that was a longer post than I was expecting...

    Roo

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  8. #23
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    Re: News - Social networking banned by almost half of UK companies

    We use a white list and there is no way around as the only way out of the network is via the proxy IPs, all other destinations are blocked on all ports. Remove the proxy software and you get no internet at all!
    □ΞVΞ□

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    Re: News - Social networking banned by almost half of UK companies

    Quote Originally Posted by snootyjim View Post
    Maybe, but one of them was an IT multinational that focussed on B2B sales of phenomenally expensive business integration packages so I'd be surprised if they were behind on technology issues.
    ....
    Really?

    Know the one about the bank that had a problem with a dead computer in a branch, so they followed the internal procedures to check, and found nothing. So they called their own IT department, who talked them through various things, and couldn't solve the problem. So they called manufacturer support and got an engineer to attend the branch. He quickly diagnosed the fault, plugged the lead back into the mains (where the cleaner had apparently unplugged it to plug in his/her vacuum), and the computer, miscellaneously, started to work again.

    You'd think that between :-

    1) Common sense,
    2) Branch written procedures, and
    3) the IT department ....

    .... someone would have thought to check it was plugged in. Some big corporates have just barely caught up with electricity, much less social media websites.

    By the way, I know the engineer this happened to. He was well-amused. About the easiest call he ever had too.

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    Re: News - Social networking banned by almost half of UK companies

    I think Saracens post, about the computer problem, highlights a massive deficiency created by these procedures and laws we are bound by. We have a critical lack of thinking developing and I believe it is a result of being told what to do and how to do it, you bypass understanding and people become too busy to think, so they just do... as a result some pretty stupid things get done which people make laws to prevent and we continue the circle of promoting mindless obedience.

    "Any fool can know, the point is to understand" - Albert Einstein, we promote knowing(laws, procedures, exams + tests at school) and neglect understanding. Then we wonder why people can't check to see if a computer is plugged in...

    We have a very limited knowledge of behaviour and it's influences and, as a result, have created a system which is inadequate and often counter productive. It's about time we stopped for a moment and actually analysed how we do things, what effects they have and what can be done to improve them.

    This is a great illustration of how something we've promoted as self evident is proven to be false:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc
    Last edited by Noxvayl; 12-05-2011 at 10:25 PM. Reason: improving grammar...

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    Re: News - Social networking banned by almost half of UK companies

    Nayar must have been straining to keep in the mirth when he came up with these quotes. So far separated from the point that his quotes read like a Daily Mash article.

    Allowing personal distractions at the computer terminal (emails and alerts from social sites) will decrease efficiency and productivity of regular office workers (not those who have the technical knowhow to get around the restrictions). Say the average worker spends 1 hour per day on facebook/twitter/bebo etc, that an extra 15% loss in productivity... and don't think that this will replace the inefficiencies currently affecting office work, the chats in the canteen and fag-breaks etc will still continue.

    So I ask you: If it were your company and you employed 100 standard (non-techie) office staff, would you leave the router open to FB and Twitter?
    Last edited by hermano pequeño; 13-05-2011 at 03:09 PM.

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    Re: News - Social networking banned by almost half of UK companies

    Quote Originally Posted by hermano pequeño View Post
    Allowing personal distractions at the computer terminal (emails and alerts from social sites) will decrease efficiency and productivity of regular office workers (not those who have the technical knowhow to get around the restrictions). Say the average worker spends 1 hour per day on facebook/twitter/bebo etc, that an extra 15% loss in productivity... and don't think that this will replace the inefficiencies currently affecting office work, the chats in the canteen and fag-breaks etc will still continue.
    If people are forced to work without breaks for long periods of time the quality and quantity of the work they do will decrease. Reducing one type of break is not going to increase productivity, and allowing it won't reduce productivity.

    While this study is about something else(gaming breaks) it shows how taking away breaks and changing the type of breaks does not have the effect you claim:
    https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=h...od%2Ffinal.doc

    Quote Originally Posted by hermano pequeño View Post
    So I ask you: If it were your company and you employed 100 standard (non-techie) office staff, would you leave the router open to FB and Twitter?
    Yes

    I would also encourage everyone to have a 5-10minute break at least once an hour to stretch and move around.

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    Re: News - Social networking banned by almost half of UK companies

    A couple of years ago, I blocked facebook for all users of my companies network.
    Bandwidth usage when down 95% and about 10% of staff had a chat with their managers. Around 5% were on facebook more than half of their working day.
    I disagreed with the way it was handled, however I was the one who insisted we start blocking sites rather than trusting all users to be responsible.
    The only way I would have done it differently, would have been to get every user to sign our internet usage policy and send out a warning that we will be actively monitoring internet usage before collecting data. Anyone who gets caught after that for massively excessing abuse deserves to get sacked TBH.
    "In a perfect world... spammers would get caught, go to jail, and share a cell with many men who have enlarged their penises, taken Viagra and are looking for a new relationship."

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    Re: News - Social networking banned by almost half of UK companies

    I agree that irresponsible use of company assets should be punished, but I don't support group punishment.

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    Re: News - Social networking banned by almost half of UK companies

    Quote Originally Posted by Apex View Post
    Block anything and people find a way round it
    Oh I agree there, it was the done thing back in school.

    However people tend to forget why they are allowed to use in internet in working hours. To assist them in their work, not so that they waste hours on Facebook or twitter. More often than not there is an IT policy in most work places and that states you agree to this policy as soon as you log in for the first time.

    Most work places even have a documented IT policy which they get anyone that works for them to sign.

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    Re: News - Social networking banned by almost half of UK companies

    Quote Originally Posted by ExHail View Post
    I agree that irresponsible use of company assets should be punished, but I don't support group punishment.
    How can stopping access to social networking, chat, unsuitable/immoral/illegal sites be classed as punishment?
    Unless the job included necessary access to such, it would be a privilege to access the legal ones from the workplace anyway and as such it reflects badly on the half that haven't limited or banned superfluous access already.
    People should do their personal calls, emails, facebook et al in their own time on their own connection and equipment!

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    Re: News - Social networking banned by almost half of UK companies

    Quote Originally Posted by ExHail View Post
    I agree that irresponsible use of company assets should be punished, but I don't support group punishment.
    It's not punishment. It's prevention.
    "In a perfect world... spammers would get caught, go to jail, and share a cell with many men who have enlarged their penises, taken Viagra and are looking for a new relationship."

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