Social Networking
Riding the social media wave
Wednesday 23 April 2008, 11:20 PM
Should Instant Messaging Be A No-Go?
Reality check. The last time I looked people were collaborating and sharing information through a variety of online services using these wonderful new things called computers. You only have to look at the rise in the popularity of Web sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn over the last 12 months to see the impact that Web 2.0 is starting to have.
You would therefore think that this in turn is starting to fundamentally change the way that businesses need to interact with their customers and manage their content now and in the future, as Web 2.0 has raised the bar on the customer’s expectation of their Web experience. Wrong!
According to troublemakers SmoothWall, 73% of enterprises are completely blocking the use of free instant messaging (IM) applications. Fear of data loss, time-wasting, and other misuse apparently outweighs potential productivity benefits. Just 11% of 1000 companies surveyed have a policy in place that allows IM but monitor its use and content. The survey showed that retail and distribution companies are the most likely to completely block access to IM (88%). Financial services companies are the most likely to allow IM tools but monitor their usage (16%).
This is plain crazy, right? Many of the young/smart people who are currently using Web 2.0 technologies are today’s customers, but will also be tomorrow’s workforce. Therefore it is important that businesses embrace them today. A good illustration of how customer expectation will change is the emergence of IM. For example, a user who uses IM to communicate with friends or fellow employees will likely start wanting more ‘immediate’ communication with suppliers and so on. Compared to IM, e-mail will soon be the electronic equivalent of a carrier pigeon! In the same way, many other Web 2.0 technologies will make communication much more ‘real-time’ and dynamic.
I’m sure it’s fair to say that IM tools have been linked both to rises and falls in office productivity by various studies since becoming popular in the late 1990s. And the fear is understandable, but blocking access completely means missing out on all the benefits that IM tools can bring. Simple features like presence monitoring, rapid file transfer, and the ability to get answers to questions very quickly can streamline the working day.
You company should draw up policies on acceptable use of social networking tools at the office and not over react to the problem by completely blocking IM. In the last few years systems to monitor IM traffic have become more widely available, enabling companies to allow access to the tools but control their usage. Have a meeting with your IT bigwigs and agree on a single system to be used company-wide. Then set parameters around when employees can use the system for personal conversations. Ensure that staff know what is appropriate use and enforce policies with a monitoring system, the cost of which can be more than offset by the gains in productivity.
You would therefore think that this in turn is starting to fundamentally change the way that businesses need to interact with their customers and manage their content now and in the future, as Web 2.0 has raised the bar on the customer’s expectation of their Web experience. Wrong!
According to troublemakers SmoothWall, 73% of enterprises are completely blocking the use of free instant messaging (IM) applications. Fear of data loss, time-wasting, and other misuse apparently outweighs potential productivity benefits. Just 11% of 1000 companies surveyed have a policy in place that allows IM but monitor its use and content. The survey showed that retail and distribution companies are the most likely to completely block access to IM (88%). Financial services companies are the most likely to allow IM tools but monitor their usage (16%).
This is plain crazy, right? Many of the young/smart people who are currently using Web 2.0 technologies are today’s customers, but will also be tomorrow’s workforce. Therefore it is important that businesses embrace them today. A good illustration of how customer expectation will change is the emergence of IM. For example, a user who uses IM to communicate with friends or fellow employees will likely start wanting more ‘immediate’ communication with suppliers and so on. Compared to IM, e-mail will soon be the electronic equivalent of a carrier pigeon! In the same way, many other Web 2.0 technologies will make communication much more ‘real-time’ and dynamic.
I’m sure it’s fair to say that IM tools have been linked both to rises and falls in office productivity by various studies since becoming popular in the late 1990s. And the fear is understandable, but blocking access completely means missing out on all the benefits that IM tools can bring. Simple features like presence monitoring, rapid file transfer, and the ability to get answers to questions very quickly can streamline the working day.
You company should draw up policies on acceptable use of social networking tools at the office and not over react to the problem by completely blocking IM. In the last few years systems to monitor IM traffic have become more widely available, enabling companies to allow access to the tools but control their usage. Have a meeting with your IT bigwigs and agree on a single system to be used company-wide. Then set parameters around when employees can use the system for personal conversations. Ensure that staff know what is appropriate use and enforce policies with a monitoring system, the cost of which can be more than offset by the gains in productivity.
Previous
