Printed Page 393

Technology in The Workplace

The use of computer-based communication technologies is now standard within workplaces; everyone from executives to repairpersons uses texting, Twitter, and instant-messaging to coordinate professional activities (Berry, 2006). E-mail has largely replaced written memos and much of telephone and face-to-face interactions. In many corporate workplaces, e-mail is the primary communication medium; daily business could not occur without it (Waldvogel, 2007).

Computer-mediated communication in the workplace provides substantial advantages over face-to-face and phone interactions, especially when it comes to complex decision making requiring input from multiple employees, some of whom may be long-distance (Berry, 2006). For example, hosting meetings online through live chat or posting to a common site ensures more active and equal participation than face-to-face meetings. People can contribute to the interaction without concern for interrupting or talking over others. The conversations also are more democratic: people in authority can’t “stare down” those with whom they disagree, suppressing their input; and those who suffer from shyness feel more comfortable contributing. In addition, online discussions provide participants with freedom from time and geographic constraints. People can chime in on the conversation whenever they like over a period of days or even weeks, and participants can join or leave the discussion without having to physically move—an enormous benefit to those who are geographically distant. Online discussions are often more informative, detailed, and factual than face-to-face conversations, as participants have the opportunity to fact-check the information in each of their comments before they post them. Keep these advantages in mind, if you’re in a position to guide such decision-making discussions.

But the biggest advantage of communication technologies within the workplace is that they connect workers, in a relational fashion. Online chat has usurped gossiping in the coffee room or talking on the telephone as the leading way employees build and bolster interpersonal ties (Riedy & Wen, 2010). Technologies allow workers to form and maintain friendships with coworkers they previously would not have been able to, including workers in other divisions of the company or other parts of the country or world (Quan-Haase, Cothrel, & Wellman, 2005).

As with anything, the benefits of workplace technologies are accompanied by certain disadvantages, the most pronounced of which is the near-constant distraction provided by online games, apps, and social networking sites. Workers in the United States now spend almost two hours a day cyberslacking: using their work computers to game, web surf, update Facebook, e-mail, and IM about personal interests and activities, when they should be focused on work tasks (Garrett & Danziger, 2008). Employees higher in organizational status, male, and under the age of 30 are most likely to cyberslack (Garrett & Danziger, 2008). The lost productivity costs of cyberslacking are enormous. As just one example, companies lose an estimated one billion dollars annually each March, from people tracking results of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament while at work (Garrett & Danziger, 2008).

Companies combat cyberslacking by using programs that track employee computer use—often without employees’ knowledge. Tracking programs monitor what sites employees visit, screen e-mail for potentially inappropriate messages, and record images of employees’ screens at periodic intervals (Riedy & Wen, 2010). Importantly, you’re not protected by using a personal account rather than a company account while cyberslacking. Court cases in which employees have sued employers for violation of privacy have upheld the right of companies to access private employee accounts, arguing that employees do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy when using the employer’s computer and Internet access (Riedy & Wen, 2010). When you’re at work, remember this simple rule: everything and anything you do on a company computer is considered company property—and you will be held accountable for it.