Switchfast Blog: The Future of IT
Workplace Computers: To Lockdown or Not to Lockdown?
Friday, September 11, 2009 by Michael Holley
A colleague of mine, George Tobin, forwarded me this article in Slate regarding the level of
computer security protocol that commonly exists at the workplace
and whether or not it actually hinders productivity. The author's
view is that by restricting employees' access to alternative
productivity tools and non-work related internet, IT departments
are doing more harm than good to efficiency and morale.
The article makes a pretty good argument, citing examples of
successful companies with lax behavioral policies that believe in
judging their workers on the results of their work rather than
their time management skills. While it seems intuitive to denounce
the use of Facebook or Twitter on "work time," does it really
matter how a worker uses his/her time so long as the work gets done
promptly and to acceptable standards? The author cites research
that found workers with unrestricted internet access were 9 percent
more effective than those that were blocked, because the
unrestricted workers were able to take short breaks that allowed
them to stay sharp while working.
Further, it's no secret that there are some alternative
applications available online that may help some workers increase
their productivity immensely. Depending upon the requirements of
their jobs or their personal working style, employees may find
their lives much easier using Firefox, loaded with customizable
extensions, or Gmail, with its lightning quick search
functionality, instead of the standard Microsoft equivalent. Who
would stop their workers from being more productive by forcing them
to use software that is less than ideal?
However, as anyone in IT knows, the problems lie with the least
common denominator. While many workers are more than capable of
managing their time effectively and operating their favorite apps,
just as many workers are not so savvy, and those can present
serious problems. What if someone needs support on some obscure
application with which IT isn't familiar? How much more time must
IT spend patching and backing up these new programs? Are the
applications compliant with government and company standards of
information archival? What if someone does download malware or a
virus?
My guess is that these problems are directly proportionate to
the size of the organization in question. In a smaller
organization, it's easier to deal with the bad eggs abusing the
internet, easier to find out which applications are popular, easier
to train for those applications, easier to manage the outliers and
isolated incidents. With a large company, however, such variables
in volume can turn into enormous issues.
Switchfast has always been very open and forward thinking in our
internal tech policy, and I believe it has been to our advantage in
terms of morale and productivity. But we're a relatively small,
and, as expected, pretty tech-savvy group. I'm interested: how has
your company or organization dealt with these issues? What unique
challenges have you come across in terms of management, budget, or
elsewhere? Please, comment below!
Best,
Michael Holley
Switchfast Technologies
Chicago IT Consulting
& Support
Rochester
IT Consulting & Support
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