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Facebook could sharpen workplace concentration

A report says that taking short breaks to surf for fun could increase employee productivity.

By Asavin Wattanajantra, 2 Apr 2009 at 15:36

Surfing websites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter at work could actually increase concentration levels and increase workforce productivity, according to a new report.

The University of Melbourne study said people who surfed the internet at work for a reasonable time – less than 20 per cent of their total time in the office – were more productive by about nine per cent than those who didn’t.

Dr Brent Coker, from the university’s Department of Management and Marketing, said the reason for this was due to the way a working day was broken up into smaller chunks of time.

He used an example of writing a company report, where writing it meant a series of ‘mini tasks’ such as formatting graphs, writing the introduction and so on.

Coker said: “At the end of these mini tasks we like rewarding ourselves such as getting a coffee, and starting a new mini task

“If we’re not given the chance to take a break, our concentration slides down.”

He called this way of sharpening worker’s concentration ‘workplace internet leisure browsing’.

However, Coker said that it was important to note that this was only the case when internet browsing was done in moderation, as this would then have a negative effect towards productivity.

The use of social networks has aroused controversy in the past, with some claiming they decrease productivity leading to some companies banning them completely, while others claim it is a useful workplace tool for networking and making contacts.

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Let's make sure we practice safe surfing

The benefits of allowing staff to use company computers and networks for occasional personal browsing are clear. Research from Nielsen released last year also shows that occasional personal web surfing at work can improve productivity and raise staff morale. Six in ten of those surveyed registered a productivity boost when allowed to mix personal web surfing with their work. However, there are still issues that a company would need to address to make such a policy practical to protect staff and the company from accessing illegal and unwelcome content. Keeping workers safe from unsuitable material is an activity that can be performed most effectively by an internet provider or the IT department using web filtering. By applying filtering at the gateway or the ISP, illegal and inappropriate material can be screened out without compromising end user productivity at the desktop. Web filtering is an important tool to help fight security threats online as well as protect users from unpleasant and unsuitable material. It also ensures that end users, companies, public sector organisations and ISPs retain control over their internet service and can make their own decisions about what is and is not suitable material to access. José María Hidalgo, R&D Director, Optenet (www.optenet.com)

By Ip_optenet6b91e8 on Friday Apr 3