How Do You Work?
-
How Do You Work?
Will some people forgo jobs if their Internet acess is locked up? Some people at Microsoft think so and they're spreading the word that companies might lose out on some talented graduates if they're limiting, censoring, or otherwise locking down Internet Access.
I've worked for companies that had both policies. I could see the value in giving access as a perk, allowing people to check on life or check out of work for awhile. I could also see the value in censoring the Internet. I know that during football season there were lots of complaints from people participating in fantasy football, but the blocking probably saved some productivity since workers could only be so distracted.
So the poll this week is in line with this. I know you're all professionals and you require some access, but ...
How much do you Need Internet access?
Would you think twice about taking a job if access were limited to MSDN/Technet?
I have to say I would. I know that when you're in the office people expect you to put in a full day's work. And I agree with that, but the lines are blurred these days. So many of us work outside of the "normal" work hours, get called in at night or on weekends, and think nothing of working an extra 20 or 30 hours when a project is late.
To me that means we should be allowed some access. There are times you may decide to come read some article at a place like SQLServerCentral.com to broaden your skills. Or you need a break and want to solve someone else's problem in a discussion forum somewhere. Or even make a banking transaction or catch up with your spouse over IM.
The world is a different place than it was 20 years ago. Cell phones alone almost guarentee that most people will be slightly distracted at work. If they can still do the job, I think it's ok. If they can't, Internet access isn't going to change anything. They'd just be socializing, taking a few extra coffee breaks or even wandering the hallways with the ever-present clipboard.
Personally as long as censorship were limited to gambling/pornography and other potentially offensive topics I'd be ok with it. If it's wholesale censorship of places like ESPN.com, I'm not taking the job.
Steve Jones
-
I think censorship is OK provided it correctly identifies work related sites.
The problem comes in identifying those legitemate work related sites.
-
My biggest issue with Censorship is this... Sure get rid of Gambling (because really...) and Porn (because at the very least there’s the problem of creating a hostile work environment, let alone productivity loss), and even getting rid of some of the ads on sites is fine, even appreciated. The bottom line for me however is, if you want to hire someone you have to baby-sit and censor what they see on the internet, do your really want them ion your organization? If you want to baby-sit kids, go work at a day care, if you want to work with adults, hire adults, and then treat them as such.
-
When it comes to the Internet and work, I'm fine with my access, even with our filters in place. Very rarely do I have to log in on our website filtering and correct a link's categorization so that I can get to it. At work, though, I'm not on the Internet much unless it's something work related or related to my field in general. Some days, I'm not on the Internet at all (especially if my day is filled with training or writing reports or coding). As long as I have access to the resources I need, it's fine.
So if I worked in a place where MSDN/Technet were my only resources, then fine. But if I had to support more products, I'd request access to tools to help me support those products effectively. To me, I'm on company time, so I may as well give them the best I can so that they get their money's worth out of me.
-
Different companies had different policy. The main thing is you have to control yourself, definitely no X-rated website, gambling website.
For the last three companies I worked for. The first one actually monitored people web access. Each month they had a report which person clicked on which website. They were very sensitive about some website liked monster.com.
The second company I worked for did not allow anyone going to check personal email. So you could not go to hotmail.com, gmail.com and could not download anything. Also they put a lot of website in their lists which did not allow employees to go to. One time there were someone walking around and checked who was on the internet. The person said there a lot of person on the internet. Some people complained because they were internet programmers, of course they were on the internet a lot. For me I would visit SQL Server Central or a lot of other SQL Server website to get information. It was a hard call.
This company I work for now does not care. But of course I have to control myself. Most of the time I use to find information about my work.
-
i would be pretty ineffective at work if i had no internet access, simply because it is much more efficient to google for something than find it in a book (assuming you have a book that holds the information you need, and know which book it is).
i also personally feel that "wasting" ten minutes every once in a while reading some random thing (whether it be news or just some wikipedia article about a random subject that sprung to mind) really helps be more productive in the long run.
-- Stephen Cook
-
I think that censorship tends to send a message about a corporate culture which I am not happy working with.
I am not happy unless trusted. Sure I will spend massive amounts of time apparently goofing off at work. I also spend massive amounts of time outside of work thinking about issues, designing solutions and just doing boring old performance analysis.
When I have no motivation, deadlines or projects of interest to work on I am not likely to work. Doesn't matter where I am.
When I do have some form of desire to work on something I work on it. Again regardless of whether I am technically at work or not.
The balance works out favorably for the company I work for at the time.
When I am pressured into altering my downtime while at work to meet an appearance of working I'd get frustrated. Then I leave.
Places I have worked with this kind of policy (or strict appearance times, dress codes etc) also tend to have an excessive number of people trying to use someone else's activity to justify their own. That kind of backstabbing and bitching just makes me leave.
The places i have worked which have allowed me to wear what I want, go to the pub at lunchtime if I want and so on (effectively the only rule is that I must be present and coherent in the case of my knowledge being required) have ended up with some truly cool bits and pieces which I have developed.
The only issue I have run into with this policy is ensuring the team doesn't end up with someone that doesn't understand that you have to perform to deserve the benefits or a manager that doesn't trust the team.
Oh by the way HR has never loved me.
In short if, in the interview, I was told that net usage was part of the way my performance was measured I'd laugh and ask if what I wore mattered and whether cosmetic surgery would also enhance my performance.
Then I would only work there for an absolutely huge bucket of cash, and then only if I was broke at the time.
-
It can get a bit ridiculous - my company restricts 'Restaurants and entertainment' so I can't pick up a fast food menu when I feel like something other than canteen food for lunch. So instead of seeing what I want, ordering it by phone and simply picking it up, I have to drive to the resaurant / fast food joint to look at the menu, place the order and wait for the food. The net result is 30 to 45 minutes out of the office instead of 10 to 15 - great way to improve productivity.
At one stage my company had a policy that the radio be on at all times and pumped through the public address system - mindless junk / noise all around at all times made it very difficult to concentrate, and this while the internet was restricted to keep people productive.
What thoughts on blocking access to job sites? I think if your company believes they are rewarding you fairly for your work they would encourage you to look around to see for yourself that you can't do better elsewhere, on the other hand if they are paranoid about you looking around they are probably abusing you.
-
Limited restrictions are okay - porn, gambling, online gaming, etc. And the porn has possible legal ramifications for a company ("hostile work environment" lawsuits...) I see those as personal, off-time activities - not something to be done at work. However, I would not work for a company that restricted me only to MSDN or other software vendor sites. I've often found solutions to problems on non-vendor sites, personal blogs, and so on - to restrict access to those sites is like having someone give you free tools, and then locking those tools up so they can't be used. It would frustrate me no end.
I know there are people out there that abuse internet access privledges, but there are more who are just concerned with getting the job done. There ARE companies out there who treat their employees like professionals rather than assuming we're all crooks.
I don't mind working for company that monitors internet access. After all, I'm using their computer / bandwidth / resources / time, and they do have a right to know that I'm not abusing my access or dragging down the bandwidth with videostreaming or such. And it's no different that a manager walking the halls to monitor work habits.
As for visits to monster.com or similar sites, I can understand the company's viewpoint if they are upset at you using it at work. If you're hunting for a new job, you need to do it on your own time, not company time! monster.com is open 24-hours per day; you don't need to shop during work hours, and it's an insult to your current company for you to do so using their resources.
Besides, why would you want to let them know ahead of time? It spoils the surprise when you leave. 
Here there be dragons...,Steph Brown
-
Companies expect a lot more time from their employees than in years past. There is pressure to have a cell phone with you 24x7, and have it switched on...! Just in case someone wants to consult you at 3am.
Giving employees reasonable use of the internet in work time is one way of redressing the work/life balance. The company I work for does allow reasonable use, but makes it clear that all use is monitored and excessive use will need to be justified or disiplinary action may follow. There is also some site blocking in place, but if you can give a valid business reason for looking at a blocked site you can get personal access.
Personally, I think the company policy is about right. Employees are expected to behave responsibly, and justify anything the security people think is not responsible. This means I can google any work problems I have, and I often find an answer. Without internet access, a lot of problems would not get solved or need a PSS call.
Original author: https://github.com/SQL-FineBuild/Common/wiki/ 1-click install and best practice configuration of SQL Server 2019, 2017 2016, 2014, 2012, 2008 R2, 2008 and 2005.
When I give food to the poor they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor they call me a communist - Archbishop Hélder Câmara
-
I wouldn't work for a company with a full "lock-down" policy, for pretty obvious reasons. Knowledge is power, and the 'net gives me quick answers to mostly work related questions. Any company that fully locks down 'net access is effectively limiting the knowledge of their workers, and so will probably fail to compete effectively, with the result that any stock options or pension plans they give you will most likely end up being just so much toilet paper.
-
I would think twice about taking any tech job if access were limited to a small number of sites: as a technology worker, my job revolves around technology, and you don't expose much more technology than through the internet. To limit my use of the internet is like limiting a pastry chef to a fork and one bowl; it might get the job done, but it's going to take longer and look like a "forking mess."
As has been mentioned already, I think the company has every right to limit access as they see fit; it's the company's resources that I'm engaging, after all. It's just that if the restrictions are too tight, then I don't want to work in that environment. I have worked in a restrictive environment, and it seemed to me to be counterproductive.
-
As a consultant, I get to see inside many companies & how they handle Net access. A few of them don't allow ANY access, period. Quite a few other companies will require the employee to sign an agreement for responsible Net usage, and face termination if they violate the agreement. I actually had two customers require that from me before starting a project.
On the other hand, many of my customer's customers post their job plans, work orders etc. at their secured site for download, so those people could not even do their jobs without Net access.
-
In my first job, I worked without internet access and was feeling way behind with the latest technology. This made me to look for a job change. Job satisfaction wont come if you feel you are not up to date with latest technology.
-
I should really be working rather than replying to this, but its first thing in the morning and my brain hasn't started yet (it takes a while for the caffeine to get there).
I bank on the internet at work. Access to most banking web-sites is denied by my company.
I could spend half an hour driving to my bank in the next town, queueing at the bank, driving back to find some other employee has nicked my parking space, and having to walk down the road from the public car-park.
Or I could perform the transaction in 5 minutes on the banks internet site and then get on with my work without disrupting my train of thought and getting stressed out.
Which is the bigger loss to my productivity?
Incidentally, I tried to link to one of the sites from SQLServercentral.com and was told by my company's internet filter that the URL was blocked, category 'Criminal skills'.
The internet is a business tool just like the phone. Employees give up a large proportion of their waking hours for a company, often more than they are paid for. Employers shouldn't criminalise their employees because they need to re-enter the real world once in a while.
David
If it ain't broke, don't fix it...
Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 21 total)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply