Previous Issue’s Dilemma:Am I too strict with our Internet policy?

At our company, most employees have Internet access at their workstations. Ordinarily, I don’t mind a few minutes of web browsing here and there for a break or even a little personal business. It’s the same as a quick water cooler conversation.

Yet as social media has grown and become a business necessity, more employees have started to hang out on these sites — and not always for work. Am I going overboard in wanting to control the amount of time employees spend online for personal surfing? How can I trust them to get the work done without curtailing this personal web browsing? Or does it really save productivity since they get the mental break they need?

— Nathan

Managers constantly battle for their employees’ attention. The opponent isn’t short attention spans or even co-workers. The enemy is technology. Employees have phones with games and Internet connections. If that isn’t bad enough, they have a direct connection to the Internet from their work computers.

As social media and online resources become an important part of doing business, managing Internet use grows difficult. But you may want to rethink your company’s policy after reading what readers and experts have to say about the issue.

1. Trust employees.
2. Focus on performance.
3. Let employees get involved with social media.
4. Use tools to monitor Internet use.

Of course, if you have other advice, please share it in the comments, or if you’re facing a different challenge, please tell us about it so we can post it and ask for advice.

Trust employees

Sometimes managers need to step back and trust their employees to do the right thing. It doesn’t mean the manager should do nothing.

Kimberly McCabe, marketing consultant, Oshyn, Inc., says, “Employees feel more empowered when their managers trust them to make the right decisions. If you feel they are unclear about how to spend their time on social media sites during working hours, send out a short and sweet email giving ideas on how to make their time effective. Or engage them and ask them to send you their ‘best practices’ for managing their time in social media to share with the whole group.”

Focus on performance

A good manager can determine whether an employee performs below expectations. Lowell Bike, president and co-founder of MyAutoTips.com, lets employees surf the web because the alternative can do more harm. Bike says, “If they do not get their work done, or the quality of the work is subpar, I will know it. When a company spends money in the form of software and on IT personnel who monitor the activities of employees, the company is telling employees that it does not trust them and feels they will not do their jobs unless forced to focus on them.”

Consider that even if a company blocks specific websites, employees can still get to such websites using their phones. So why not build a better relationship with employees by showing them you trust them and let their performance do the talking? “It doesn’t matter whether the person is web surfing, talking at the water cooler or making personal phone calls. What does matter is that she or he gets the job done. If the employee has clear goals and expectations, is engaged at work and is held accountable, the rest falls into place. In short, focus on performance expectations,” says Linda M. Duffy, president, Leadership Habitude.

“If employees fulfill their tasks in a successful way and still have time to vent/recoup/socialize or maybe even discover new useful tools for the business on the Internet, it creates a healthy and productive environment where the employee and (and the boss) is happy,” says Zachary Weiner, CEO of Luxuryreach. Giving employees a little freedom can lead to happiness and job satisfaction. That may be worth the sacrifice of surfing time.

Michelle Gamble-Risley, president of M Communications/3L Publishing, can’t see her employees because her business is virtual. “I don’t care what they spend their days doing as long as they do not miss my deadlines. When I hire people, I am upfront about this requirement,” Gamble-Risley says.

Let employees get involved with social media

Maybe the manager needs to look at social media in a different way. Instead of considering it a time waster, think of it as a way to extend the company’s brand. “Your employees can be your best brand ambassadors, promoting your products and services across their social networks with potential prospects, partners, investors and recruits,” says Rick Clancy, senior director, public relations with Covario.

Clancy explains that involved employees may provide insight from the community that the company would not otherwise know about. “In these times of tight marketing budgets, I would encourage you to empower and trust your employees on the social media front rather than curtail them. As a result, I’m sure you’ll see the benefits greatly outweigh the risks,” Clancy says.

Gamble-Risley, sees social media interactions as positive. “In fact, if they’re on social media and making great business connections, that’s even better for my business.”

Use tools to monitor Internet use

Employees may spend time on websites that have nothing to do with social media. Maybe they’re shopping, taking an online class or catching up with an old friend. These activities are best left for lunch breaks, but some may get carried away as the Internet is quite the temptress.

Obie Fernandez, CEO and founder, Hashrocket, recommends RescueTime. The application can monitor Internet use and report activity by teams and individuals. Fernandez points to a downside of controlling Internet use. “I’ve found that severely curtailing Internet usage at work usually prevents you from hiring and retaining the best and brightest employees out there. It’s better to keep an eye on the situation and deal with problem people individually instead of punishing everyone,” Fernandez says.

Siva Sanmuga, owner, Callture.com, uses a free and open-source solution called Untangle to manage which sites the company allows or doesn’t allow. Sanmuga says, “The most important thing is that the same rule should apply to you as well. Communicate it openly to employees.”

If you take the monitoring route, James C. Roberts advises consulting with a human resources lawyer regarding the implications of using the software because there may be privacy issues.

Managers are not babysitters. They’re leaders who trust employees and empower them to do their best and succeed. Let their work do the talking rather than micromanaging them to the point where it could affect morale. Encouraging them to get involved in social media may do wonders for your organization.

But if employees are not performing, and non-work related activities like surfing the Internet are the cause, you have the option to monitor Internet use. A word of caution: Take care in using such tools because they may lead to negative results.

Have you dealt with Internet policies? How did you handle it? Please join the discussion in the comments because we want to hear from you. Got a challenge of your own you’d like to help solving? Submit your question. You don’t have to share your name if you prefer to remain anonymous.

Meryl K. Evans is senior editor at InternetVIZ and the content maven behind the Connected Digest, B2B Social Media Digest, IT Solutions Journal and Professional Services Journal. Follow her on Twitter @merylkevans.