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Internet Newsletters
Mosaic Media
Working Smarter newsletter for Internet users
I currently write the biweekly newsletter Working Smarter on the Internet, which was launched in 1999. I had a major hand in designing the publication, which includes articles, Q&A's, quizzes, and tutorials. The letter uses these various approaches to help readers increase their Net productivity. It tells them about the Net's best resources, offers tips on using Internet software, and gives advice on using search engines more efficiently. I also include articles that help firms deal with the new technology, such as the following piece.
For sample newsletter, please download INTERNET.pdf (207KB)
Firms Grapple with Internet Use Issues (2001)
Every revolution has its unfortunate by-products – just ask the French.
The Internet is proving no different. With all of its enormous benefits for businesses, it is also causing friction between companies and their employees, as they wrestle with privacy and Internet use issues.
Privacy at the office
Few employers have any interest in snooping into the lives of their staff or monitoring their personal activities. But when the extraordinary power of the Internet collides with the awesome demands of the U.S. legal system, the limits of individual freedom are bound to be tested. The fact is that companies have the right to read employees' e-mail and monitor the web sites they visit. Last July, some 50 employees at Dow Chemical were terminated and 200 were suspended for sending inappropriate jokes and images over the company's e-mail system. While the move seemed draconian to many employees, the company insisted it was necessary to ensure a proper work environment.
Cyberslackers Beware
But companies are worried about more than the
legal issues. Managers are alarmed by the amount
of time employees are spending on the Net for
nonbusiness reasons. With the majority of employees
doing at least some personal surfing at work – if
only to read the sports news – firms are seeking
to reduce cyberslacking. Some extracurricular
surfing seems inevitable by the very nature of
the Net. A curious employee may log on to find
a stat about corn production and wind up reading
about Amerindian housing construction. That doesn't
seem like a criminal act. But all those exploratory
hyperlink clicks are costing American industry
billions of dollars each year in employee time.
Some Solutions
As reported by WEBSENSE (www.websense.com), here are some suggestions from the
American Management Association on the issue of employee Internet use:
- Companies should use some type of Web-blocking or monitoring software.
- Employees should be told that their Web surfing will be monitored, even though the law does not require you to notify them.
- Internet and e-mail policies should be established and known to all workers.
- Since offending web sites can be reached by accident, companies should allow some leeway in those policies.
- Employees should be allowed some free Internet time during the day.
- Internet access should be eliminated when it's not needed to perform the job.
For sample newsletter, please download INTERNET.pdf (207KB)
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