Companies all across the country are banning Social Media at work. No more tweeting, posting comments on Facebook, or getting in discussions at LinkedIN. Heavy sigh from those addicted to on-line conversation. I’d like to know if this is punishment for the many because of the few? Are people really losing that much productivity time? Or is Social Media simply replacing hallway conversations?
I don’t doubt that a lot of time can be lost in conversations about old Led Zepplin songs and who exercised this morning, but that’s not my issue. I’m questioning the ban approach. I believe that if you want something to really have renewed power, then tell people they can’t do it. Here’s an example. Years ago, there was a singer named John Denver (some of you old folks might remember him). If you ever saw John perform in the early years, he generally performed on a round stage that was in the middle of the audience. He liked being close to the people, and those on the front row could have reached out and touched the stage. After one concert his agent (or a security company needing work) convinced him of the dangers of this approach and placed body guards around the stage for his next concert. Prior to the body guards, not one audience member tried to get on stage. On the night of the concert that included body guards, they had over forty people try to get on stage. Why? Because they knew getting on stage was “banned,” and suddenly they had a HUGE need to jump up there.
Here’s a personal example. As an eight year old taking piano lessons I had a bad habit of banging the keys when I couldn’t get a song right (little bit of a temper problem). My mom would yell from the kitchen “Donna Lee, get off the piano. And if I hear you hit one more key, you’re in big trouble.” Well, she said if she listened carefully she could hear the very, very, very soft sound of the highest key being pushed down as gently as possible. I did it every time. Why? Because mom told me I couldn’t.
Possible Solutions:
- Allow 5 minutes of Social Media per hour
- Manage to projects given rather than time lost. If my employees finish their work, then I have no problem with them staying in conversation (as long as they’re not representing the company).
- Determine if Social Media is replacing hallway time. We used to get up from our cubicles and go to the cafeteria for snacks. That would take 15-20 minutes, twice a day. Give people that time for connecting with their friends!
- Don’t punish all for the few. Quoting the Jackson 5, one bad apple don’t spoil the whole bunch. Don’t create a ban policy you can get rid of 2% of your employees that aren’t doing their job. Manage them closely on work accomplished. .
Tell people they can’t, and they’ll find new ways to do it. Social Media is not going away, so learn to live with it in a civil manner. That’s my thought. . .what’s yours?
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Donna, your claim is news to me about the banning of SM in the corporate world. Got any data to back this? I haven’t heard this so far and see organizations slowly moving towards allowing it. Certainly the filters are not open full throttle but organizations are realizing…as you stated…it is replacing or becoming the water cooler conversations. With mobile devices in hand, it will be hard to totally shut it down during work hours. One might just restrict the equipment, but I believe it is here to stay.
I concur with your solutions as they are appropriate for managing anything in moderation.
Hey Kevin! Good to hear from you. I am posting a link below that gives some of the stats on banning SM. I just went to lunch with several women yesterday, and all three said they’ve been informed there’s now a ban on social media at their jobs. I also noticed a lot of folks on Twitter posting articles over the past week. Here’s the link:
http://smallbiztrends.com/2009/10/social-media-ban.html
It might currently be at more of a small business level? I’m not sure – anybody else out there in Corporate America been notified of a ban?
As with any other phenomenon at work [iPod, music on computers and so on], the company needs to set expectations at whatever level they feel is appropriate to their environment and enforce them; different companies have different needs; I have a friend at SCAD [a university in Savannah] who is REQUIRED to be on Facebook all day to monitor social media traffic; there are several interactive marketing agencies here in town that I am sure insist on their employees’ being on SM; other firms [high net worth private bankers] could restrict it; nothing magic here, just a managerial basic [although often ignored in practice]: establish the expectation, communicate it, and enforce it
I can see businesses dealing with customer’s personal information (credit accounts, bank accounts, social security numbers, and other identification info) banning SM outside their intranet. If they didn’t they run the risk of identity theft issues. A debt negotiation company I am familiar with in Scottsdale, AZ bans all SM altogether. No personal Instant messaging between employees and no cell phone use inside the building. I disagree with the IM policy but understand the cell phone policy.
Galen: Great point about SM jobs – my On-line Manager is also required to be on all day, monitoring the sites and letting me know what needs a response, etc. . .it seems that too often we skip the simple solution and turn it into some panicked decision that impacts too many people negatively.
You can’t stop employees from facebooking on their cell phones!
Andrew is correct. I was just imagining how bathroom breaks and coffee breaks would turn into electronic breaks where the smokers meet outside the building.
The real issue is that the world has changed dramatically in the last 5 years alone through smart phones. I am not a spring chick but I have made some very valuable business use of my online social network. Younger people are much more ‘connected’ electronically. This is not a fad. Some even experience the world through the buffer of electronics. And Donna is also correct. I have heard speak of employees spending and average of 2.5 hours of the work day on line. Business needs to understand that social networking, like the internet has changed business. There needs to be some sort of policy or standard for electronically responsible ‘ ‘connectivity’. I’m not talking about playing Farkle, Bejeweled or Mafia wars for hours at work while deadlines loom. I would hate to see any company lose good young talent due to extremes – abuse or ban. There has to be some acceptable common ground for business to reap the ‘value’ of their employees connectivity.
Connie: You’re so right – there is always a truth somewhere in the middle that can accept the change while preventing its abuse. Abusers are generally a very small percentage, but they light the fire that gets everyone’s attention. This is going to be an interesting change in the way we spend our business day, and I look forward to seeing where it goes! I look forward to your comments in the future –
Energetically,
Donna
Truthfully, any business computer that does not block social media sites is opening itself up to hackers and viruses that can cause them, at the very least, a lot of grief. I agree with the policy that employees in the lines of customer service should not be visiby texting and facebooking in customer view. Other than that, I say any spare time you have to harvest your imaginary crops is time well spent.