For the past several decades, experts have talked about the “disruptive” nature of technology to change, for the better, the way companies run their operations. However, with the use of digital technologies becoming as common in offices as desktop computers, these disruptions aren’t always positive.
To prevent technology from becoming a detriment to the work environment, shrewd business leaders can enact policies and procedures to manage the flow of information through their company.
Personal Technology Use in the Workplace
From social media posting to streaming videos, personal technology use at work has become so problematic that it’s overloading the networks of some firms. Corporate bandwidth consumed for personal use isn’t available to run cloud applications, exchange files with clients or support other legitimate business tasks. Furthermore, when workers access corporate networks with potentially insecure devices, they increase the chances of a cybersecurity breach.
Marathon has previously offered advice about personal device usage policies (read that article, here), so we won’t revisit that discussion, now. Following are a few added tips:
- Include in company policies a notation that unauthorized use of corporate technology, such as network connections, is equivalent to stealing and can result in termination.
- Set up a separate, slower “guest” network in public areas (e.g. lobbies; break rooms) for both employees and visitors to use—and establish rules for when personnel can use that network.
- If workers are allowed to use personal devices on corporate networks, deploy mobile device management (MDM) technologies to ensure the devices don’t pose a threat to company security.