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"Surfin' USA" - Accessing the Net at Work and Other Time-Wasting Activities - Are They a Cost or Benefit to Your Agency?
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Article has potential to damage
Federal
Wed Jul 11, 2007 8:12 AM
Post Reply
There's no intelligent application of the rules, so this article is going to make managers crack down on all computer use. 99.9% of my research is done on the internet, so that's going to hurt my job!
Re: Article has potential to damage
DOD-Army
Wed Aug 1, 2007 4:18 PM
I for one hate it when managers do military type punishment. We are seperate people.
Cyberslackers
Federal Govt.
Wed Jul 11, 2007 8:20 AM
Post Reply
Very interesting article. We have a few employees who spend countless hours shopping online, running eBay auctions, looking at homes/apartments, downloading music, planning vacations, and making personal phone calls. I guess the good news is that they can use technology to multi-task. The bad news is that none of these tasks are work-related. And since these folks spend 5+ hours a day on this stuff, someone else must be taking up their slack if the agency is to accomplish its mission. My boss expects me to check voice mail and email from home when I'm on vacation or out sick, so I dread the thought of a Blackberry and hope I never get one. Don't really like being this "connected" to my workplace.
Managers are or absolutely should be aware of the work ethic of each of their employees, but they seem to lack the courage to make people accountable, do the counseling thing, or suspend folks who abuse the system. And if they try, the union jumps in to defend the slackers.
hello...
Govt
Wed Jul 11, 2007 8:41 AM
Post Reply
this article is funny...most people who will come here and read it today are probably on duty and "cyberloafing".
Re: hello...
Civil Service
Wed Jul 11, 2007 10:01 AM
Usual stuff, 80% do fine. 10% don't do anything even close to slacking. It's the other 10% that screw it up for everyone. (That and managers that make knee-jerk rules for the 10%)
'Surfin USA
US Coast Guard
Wed Jul 11, 2007 8:55 AM
Post Reply
A good article. I can personally attest to the argument that these tools (Blackberry (TREO), Internet, cell phone) increases productivity and, in particular, innovation. One of my team leads saw an article online (on her own time) about virtual server technology. She printed the article out, took it to her team, they thrashed the idea and concept around for a few days and then presented me a proposal to fund a prototype system. I bought the idea, presented it to senior management, they bought it and we ended up saving over a quarter million dollars in hardware and systems administration. That's happened more than once and its made a believer of me with regard to allowing some open ended "play" on the Internet. I still keep an eye on things to ensure that it doesn't get abused and I am happy to confirm that there is extremely little "abuse" going on when they're given a little slack.
Performance is the real issue
OMG
Wed Jul 11, 2007 9:43 AM
Post Reply
The focus should be on employee performance, i.e., is the employee acomplishing assigned work in an acceptable manner? If the answer is no, that unacceptable performance needs to be addressed. If the employee is a satisfactory or bettter performer and still has time to spend surfing the internet, talking to fellow employees, etc, I suugest that the problem is with management, not the employee.
Deal with it
OPM
Wed Jul 11, 2007 10:05 AM
Post Reply
I agree that judicious use of the internet or "down" time can be a morale booster and add to productivity. And, of course management never complains about an employee working too much. Unfortunately, as with anything some people will abuse perks. I believe the key here is "if you [supervisor] are concerned with anyone's use of time, you will deal with that person directly, not take it out on the whole group."
I've seen supervisors who are unwilling/unable to confront a specific situation/individual and instead punish everyone by implementing draconian policies.
Hmmm - am I wasting time now reading this?
DOD
Wed Jul 11, 2007 10:11 AM
Post Reply
While I am the first to admit that I do sometimes surf the net at work for other than work reasons, a lot of it is reading articles such as this one,on a website for federal employees. I also look at the TSP.gov, my bank balance, and pay bills at lunch, etc., because I am supposed to be a responsible employee who does not let their bills get behind. And, the firewalls we have here at work are much more sophisticated than anything I can personally afford at home so I feel safer paying them online at work than at home. I consider this minimal use of the internet a privilege that I do not abuse. I am not one to spend hours and hours, rather a few minutes here and there that probably doesn't add up to more than an hour or so a week. Which is more than I can say for some of my co-workers who spend hours on personal phone calls, socializing, ad nauseum. Also, I usually eat lunch at my desk, answer business calls and emails while I am eating, so I think I waste less than they do.