A New Policy for Internet Use in the Workplace
My Position: I Don't Care What You Do on the Web
Phil Johnson |
Today, when you take a walk around the office, you can see exactly what people are doing online. We're talking zero computer privacy, and it has created some uncomfortable moments. Approach someone's desk, and you may notice a few quick keystrokes, the blink of a Facebook page, and an awkward smile. God bless Tony Zappos, but we've got compulsive shoe buyers around here, male and female. (You'd think our reception desk was a Zappos loading dock.) Other big online winners include, in no particular order, Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, Twitter, and a couple hundred blogs. That's not to mention solitaire, Sudoku, and the occasional glimpse of medieval battles on "WOW" in the IT department. We're talking epidemic levels of surfing.
The whole thing puts me on the spot and creates a real conundrum. Understandably, people don't want me watching their online shopping habits, and in this economy who wants to be seen goofing off? You've got to admit, I have a legitimate concern about productivity. So, I decided to take action. While I'm not big on rules and regulations, I absolutely felt the need to set up guidelines for the agency on acceptable internet use.
After some deliberation, I arrived at a policy that works for me. It's short, it's direct, and it's very hard to misinterpret. I don't care what you do on the internet. (O.K. no porn, fundraising for terrorists, and online scams.) I'm not a babysitter, and we're all responsible adults, for the most part. Plus, nothing will kill creative energy and a spirit of collaboration faster than distrust and paranoia. My message to all of my colleagues is this: Please don't hide what you're doing online. No one cares. In fact, if you've found some cool application or content, definitely share it.
As an agency, we encourage people to follow new technologies and experiment with social networks. I can't exactly talk out of both sides of my mouth and limit that exploration during business hours. Who cares if a few pairs of shoes and some books get ordered in the process? Big deal. I'm glad that we've got people who understand and use all the platforms that make up the new marketing landscape.
This topic also ties into two strongly held management convictions. One, we've done everything we can to assemble the most talented people we can find. We care intensely about the quality of their values, their ideas, and their work. As long as we honor our commitments to our clients and each other, how and when people get stuff done is their business. Second, we live in a world that is always on. People don't shut off when they walk out the door. Their curiosity and life experiences all contribute to the success of the agency. We want to respect that spirit in the office as well.
Let's keep internet surfing out in the open to the degree that it's reasonable. Please don't flip to that Word document just because I show up. Who knows? I may see a pair of shoes on Zappos that I want. More importantly, remember the pendulum swings both ways. Don't be too harsh if you see me posting to Twitter or slipping in a few games of FreeCell.
~ ~ ~
You can follow Phil Johnson on Twitter: @philjohnson.
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Seriously, though, perhaps you haven't seen the growing body of evidence that open work plans may actually decrease worker productivity:
http://thefutureofwork.net/blog/2005/07/06/open-office-plans-may-not-be-so-productive-after-all/
We've gotten so caught up with the process of proving how many of the hours we spend are "productive," we wind up reducing everyone to the lowest common denominator. The result being that the best, hardest working, most creative talents are often either paid the least or have their value questioned. Meanwhile, the average talent who fits the mold perfectly is considered hard-working and diligent.
Here's a novel idea: Get the work done, no matter how long or how little time it takes.
Whether you are a client or an agency president, which would you rather have: a creative/strategic team proving how they used every hour that they're being paid for in the pursuit of your project or a team who gets the project right every time? These are mutually exclusive positions here. They sometime overlap, but not as often as you think.
So I agree with you that an open policy on goofing off is acceptable and even preferable to a zero-tolerance policy. However I would also say that there may be an opportunity in all this that you are missing.
This surfing can actively benefit a company not just in the form of a happier workplace environment, but also in the gathering of new information and insights. I would add to this policy of yours the idea that, "You are free to surf as you wish, but since it is still company time we want your insights. How is your buying experience on Amazon? What trends are you seeing among YouTube videos? What's the funniest thing you saw online last week? We don't want a list of what you're doing. That's your business. But we do want to amass a flow of data, insights and ideas to inspire our own content generation."
This achieves two things. The first is obvious in that it equips you to better serve your clients and enhances your new business efforts. However the second may be even more important. It gives this activity purpose and importance, rather than just acceptance. That will free employees of the last vestiges of "employer fear" and help them realize the true value of the activity to your organization. This needs to be more than permission. It demands to be encouraged.
I think I'll expand more on this on my blog. Thanks for the post.
http://beancast.us
I just heard Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos speak at SXSW this weekend. He said that in their customer service department, unlike many others across the country, do not have time limits on customer phone calls. They're not interested in processing as many calls as possible; they're focused on creating a great customer experience.
To make his point, he said that the longest call they have on record at Zappos is four (4) hours long. "Sometimes our customers get lonely and need someone to talk to," he said.
I'm in PR, not advertising, but being a regular reader of your columns, if I was in advertising, I'd want to work for you. Thanks for taking the time to share your perspective.
- Gerald
It would be foolish to restrict access to Twitter and then expect employees to speak knowledgeably about online consumer workplace behaviors.
http://www.twitter.com/admaven
http://admaven.blogspot.com
Once again, I am impressed with your progressive approach to online activity in the workplace. It is the only possible policy. Almost any restriction is difficult, if not impossible, to enforce. Any attempt to enforce online surfing rules would be so onerous that employee retention and morale would shrink to new depths.
I did find Jeremy Feldman's remarks and blog very interesting. Having worked in offices with completely open plan to cubicles to all private offices, the results of this study do not surprise me. In the completely open concept, I had to stay late or take work home in order to complete projects. The open concept does not allow anyone to set aside several hours of uninterrupted time.
In my view, the ideal office is built with a flexible layout — workspaces that can be opened up for collaborative work, or subdivided and closed off for uninterrupted work. Sometimes that will be individual work, but often it is a group of two to five people (but not everyone in the office).
As the owner or manager of a business such as an advertising agency, one can't really manage people. People manage themselves. The goal is to create an environment and provide the tools that assist people to be creative and productive.
Hoot Communications
I prefer the "moveable" walls as Mr. Hoot mentioned.
But aside from that...I do agree with the "anything goes" policy for the web surfing. You need that freedom to do creative work.
Having worked for many years in both private and open-office settings, I have to say I believe what Jeremy is saying as it's accepted that it takes fully 15-20 minutes to become fully engrossed in a project, hence only a fully uninterrupted environment is going to lead to top productivity, whether we're talking about an individual trying to concentrate, or a group trying to get through an agenda without distractions. Unfortunately the demand for 'cost savings' from shareholders has steam-rolled over recognition that productivity and efficiency should trump other things -- the open office milieu is the status quo today.
To Bob's POV: "Here's a novel idea: Get the work done, no matter how long or how little time it takes," I'd only add the suggestion that, at some point, management bring up with the team the 'Goof Off Expense Scale'. My employees said the amount of time spent on 100% personal pursuits online was 'negligible' and 'doesn't effect my productivity', so I did an analysis of how many seconds were spent opening, interacting with and closing windows for IM, social sites, downloads, etc. during any random hour of the day and demonstrated to them that it added up to about 12 minutes of every hour, or 20% of their work week.
In slow times your people might need online distractions to keep from getting bored and it might even provide creative inspiration and new skill-set building, but unless they're committed, universally, to applying Bob's 'novel idea' through the busy times, putting in an additional 20% per week out of their personal time without complaint, their salaries should be adjusted downwards to accommodate for this new intrusion of personal time into their company-paid time. Up to 90% of the interruptions that come through on smartphones are personal (depending on the individual), not business-related, so the same applies there.
Sometimes a good defense of your bottom line means a good offense that includes open and frank discussions about what makes an agency shine -- not just creative inspiration but the hours (i.e. minutes and seconds) spent against cranking out agency work, including white papers and recos.
Kevin Lenard, Biz Dev Consultant
When choosing an architect to design our office, I wanted someone who had experience in this area. We went with Hacin + Associates - http://www.hacin.com/ - the Boston firm that designed Ideo's headquarters. Literally, Ideo wrote the book on collaboration.
We've explored a few interesting ideas. One, we created a number of privacy zones based on people's various needs. Most work stations have some visual privacy. There are three major lounges, as well as a kitchen where people can congregate. Throughout the office we're adding small arrangements of tables and chairs for impromptu meetings. There are two formal conference rooms for client meetings. We also made four rooms of various sizes for teams to work, or for people to call their therapists. True, we had to sacrifice the amount of personal space allocated to each of us. My work station is slightly larger than the others, so that I can have a small table that seats three.
Even with all the public and shared space we've created, you can probably guess the number one comment from everybody: we need more meeting space.
I honestly don't know if we've become more or less productive, but I do think we're spending more time together as a group. Good or bad, that's one of the values I want to promote within the agency. For myself, the biggest drain on productivity is the amount of time I spend staring out the window, a habit I picked up in the first grade.
When I first started in the business in the mid 1970s, the head of our agency told me that when I hit the wall and was drawing blanks, I should go for a walk and head for the nearest store and browse around in order to get the juices flowing. Today I imagine he'd tell me to go surf the net.
http://blog.cyclope-series.com/
I do appreciate your perspective on internet usage. Sometimes, it offers enough of a mental break from the business challenges of the day.
SarahResults Smith
http://twitter.com/SarahResults
I couldn't agree more. We have an open floorplan, too, and have for several years now, which leaves no computer privacy. We've never had guidelines for how people use the internet at work. If the work gets done well, then I'm not at all bothered if people are chatting with friends, shopping, whatever. The only time this has ever become an issue is when individual productivity is clearly dropping due to distraction. Fortunately, this has never happened enough to have a policy on the matter. We do encourage all of our employees to participate with our company blog, our linkedIn group, and any other online networking they can, though even those things are tough for them to fit in to their days. In fact, having seen everyone's timesheets firsthand, I know that most of our people are far too busy with actual work to be hanging out on Facebook (or zappos.com, for that matter) for any substantial amount of time.
Chris Butler, Newfangled Web Factory