How much time do you spend messing around at work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work for a very large organisation and probably only do an hour of work a day. It's not for lack of trying as I keep asking for more work but never get given any. I'm mid level and have degrees from good schools. I don't think we'll ever get to a stage where employers can meaningfully monitor what you do on your computer unless you work in a very small office.

You are wrong.

I have an interface I can log into and can see exactly who has been on what website and for how long. I can even see page clicks. I can see if you are doing it from your phone or computer. If you are at home and VPN'd in I can see what you are doing from there.

I agreed with you until you said the phone part, unless it is a company phone, and even then, I am not sure how you could get that information.

Some employers don't care as long as you get your work done and have the proof for it. My boss knows this, and can check on various things at any point to see what I have done. Efficiency shows, some people simply do not have it. If you don't keep Outlook up the entire day, that is just plain stupid. I don't get much e-mail, so there wouldn't be much there to look for.

Most people at the office connect their phones via wifi in order to not chew up their data plans.

I can not only see what is open, but what is active. Keeping outlook open all day is not the best tactic to hide your tracks. I can see exactly what percanrage of time people are clicking and scrolling and actually active.

I mainly use this tool to see who is truly overloaded and needs things taken off their plate and who is just lazy and needs me to pile on the work. If you are belly aching that you are working too many hours then I'm going to run a report and let you know maybe you can find an extra 3hrs a day If you get the hell off Facebook and dcum.

Don't your employees catch on to your monitoring? Especially if you're telling them to get the hell of Facebook or the like. I would think they know you're monitoring and just spend time messing around another way.

Your monitoring and controlling ways would drive me nuts. For what it's worth, I have a rather senior role. Maybe you're managing juvelibe dellinquets or rejects. Who knows, but I just know I'd never want to work for you. What's also sad is I have hunch you're a woman which makes me sad. No man would ever spend this much time monitoring his staff.

[Anonymous]

I guess some supervisors and managers have to justify their positions so they spend time monitoring their employees computer activity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work for a very large organisation and probably only do an hour of work a day. It's not for lack of trying as I keep asking for more work but never get given any. I'm mid level and have degrees from good schools. I don't think we'll ever get to a stage where employers can meaningfully monitor what you do on your computer unless you work in a very small office.

You are wrong.

I have an interface I can log into and can see exactly who has been on what website and for how long. I can even see page clicks. I can see if you are doing it from your phone or computer. If you are at home and VPN'd in I can see what you are doing from there.

I agreed with you until you said the phone part, unless it is a company phone, and even then, I am not sure how you could get that information.

Some employers don't care as long as you get your work done and have the proof for it. My boss knows this, and can check on various things at any point to see what I have done. Efficiency shows, some people simply do not have it. If you don't keep Outlook up the entire day, that is just plain stupid. I don't get much e-mail, so there wouldn't be much there to look for.

Most people at the office connect their phones via wifi in order to not chew up their data plans.

I can not only see what is open, but what is active. Keeping outlook open all day is not the best tactic to hide your tracks. I can see exactly what percanrage of time people are clicking and scrolling and actually active.

I mainly use this tool to see who is truly overloaded and needs things taken off their plate and who is just lazy and needs me to pile on the work. If you are belly aching that you are working too many hours then I'm going to run a report and let you know maybe you can find an extra 3hrs a day If you get the hell off Facebook and dcum.

Interesting, I don't connect my phone to the work's wi-fi, but then again, I don't use my phone to surf off wi-fi to begin with.

Like I said, I rarely get work e-mail, so your point about leaving Outlook open would not be valid. My desk is fairly clean by the end of the day, that shows I am being productive. There are other documents that my boss or IT could see that shows what I do, so it has never been an issue. There are times my boss is surprised when I get something done that isn't expected. It is all about efficiency.

[Anonymous]

I used to be a fed and screwed around on the internet a lot more than I do now. I don't necessarily have more to do now, but think that I feel more motivated in an environment with higher standards. I also work a lot more outside of work hours than I used to, not because I have to, but because I feel motivated to do it. I also feel like the extra time I put in now is being rewarded with raises and promotions, where in the govt it would not have been.

I do have quite a few chatty cathys in my office. I would get lonely if I didn't talk to anyone all day, but it does drive me nuts sometimes when people park themselves in my office. I'm a big introvert and would rather waste my time dicking around on the internet rather than spending 20 minutes talking to someone about their weekend or about what they're thinking about getting for lunch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work for a very large organisation and probably only do an hour of work a day. It's not for lack of trying as I keep asking for more work but never get given any. I'm mid level and have degrees from good schools. I don't think we'll ever get to a stage where employers can meaningfully monitor what you do on your computer unless you work in a very small office.

You are wrong.

I have an interface I can log into and can see exactly who has been on what website and for how long. I can even see page clicks. I can see if you are doing it from your phone or computer. If you are at home and VPN'd in I can see what you are doing from there.

I agreed with you until you said the phone part, unless it is a company phone, and even then, I am not sure how you could get that information.

Some employers don't care as long as you get your work done and have the proof for it. My boss knows this, and can check on various things at any point to see what I have done. Efficiency shows, some people simply do not have it. If you don't keep Outlook up the entire day, that is just plain stupid. I don't get much e-mail, so there wouldn't be much there to look for.

Most people at the office connect their phones via wifi in order to not chew up their data plans.

I can not only see what is open, but what is active. Keeping outlook open all day is not the best tactic to hide your tracks. I can see exactly what percanrage of time people are clicking and scrolling and actually active.

I mainly use this tool to see who is truly overloaded and needs things taken off their plate and who is just lazy and needs me to pile on the work. If you are belly aching that you are working too many hours then I'm going to run a report and let you know maybe you can find an extra 3hrs a day If you get the hell off Facebook and dcum.

Don't your employees catch on to your monitoring? Especially if you're telling them to get the hell of Facebook or the like. I would think they know you're monitoring and just spend time messing around another way.

Your monitoring and controlling ways would drive me nuts. For what it's worth, I have a rather senior role. Maybe you're managing juvelibe dellinquets or rejects. Who knows, but I just know I'd never want to work for you. What's also sad is I have hunch you're a woman which makes me sad. No man would ever spend this much time monitoring his staff.

I totally read this as being a man, but maybe only because men in real life IT depts have bragged to me that they can do this.

It does amaze me what is possible now. Keystroke loggers can see what you type, even if never saved anywhere. And for those who think no company would take the time to monitor closely, I would assume it's all pretty much automated.

I do a lot of work off line, e.g. reading huge binders of contracts. Hopefully I'll never be faulted for not having a lot of active time in outlook or whatever by someone who doesn't know who does what.

[Anonymous]

As a former fed, I spent 80-100% of my time "messing around." Most of this time was spent on the Internet, some on the phone. There was little to no work to be done, so matter how much I asked. My boss and fellow employees didn't have any work either. Now that I'm in the private sector, I hardly have to to refill my water bottle. I spend very, very little time doing anything other than work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a former fed, I spent 80-100% of my time "messing around." Most of this time was spent on the Internet, some on the phone. There was little to no work to be done, so matter how much I asked. My boss and fellow employees didn't have any work either. Now that I'm in the private sector, I hardly have to to refill my water bottle. I spend very, very little time doing anything other than work.

And as a current fed, I do the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a former fed, I spent 80-100% of my time "messing around." Most of this time was spent on the Internet, some on the phone. There was little to no work to be done, so matter how much I asked. My boss and fellow employees didn't have any work either. Now that I'm in the private sector, I hardly have to to refill my water bottle. I spend very, very little time doing anything other than work.

And as a current fed, I do the same.

What job series are you in? I'm a fed, and I'm always busy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a former fed, I spent 80-100% of my time "messing around." Most of this time was spent on the Internet, some on the phone. There was little to no work to be done, so matter how much I asked. My boss and fellow employees didn't have any work either. Now that I'm in the private sector, I hardly have to to refill my water bottle. I spend very, very little time doing anything other than work.

And as a current fed, I do the same.

+1 to what jobs are you in?? I'm a fed and am absolutely buried by the amount of work I have to do. I'd love to spend time messing around but don't have the chance at all. Please share (or switch jobs with me!).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow.

I barely have time to pee.

I run my dept.

Ps: I periodically have IT run efficiency checks on people when I suspect the kind of screwing around you all are describing. Let's just say that if needed I have my list of who goes first already lined up.

You sound like a pedantic loser.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow.

I barely have time to pee.

I run my dept.

Ps: I periodically have IT run efficiency checks on people when I suspect the kind of screwing around you all are describing. Let's just say that if needed I have my list of who goes first already lined up.

You sound like a pedantic loser.

Why? Because I actually expect people to do the jobs for which they are (well) paid to do? I know. Shocking, isn't it. I don't run the checks on everyone. But every time I have had cause to do so it has come back confirming the goofing off that has been happening vs the "I have too much work" that they are claiming (especially given their peers are getting their work done).

Guess maybe it's hitting too close to home for you, huh?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow.

I barely have time to pee.

I run my dept.

Ps: I periodically have IT run efficiency checks on people when I suspect the kind of screwing around you all are describing. Let's just say that if needed I have my list of who goes first already lined up.

You sound like a pedantic loser.

Why? Because I actually expect people to do the jobs for which they are (well) paid to do? I know. Shocking, isn't it. I don't run the checks on everyone. But every time I have had cause to do so it has come back confirming the goofing off that has been happening vs the "I have too much work" that they are claiming (especially given their peers are getting their work done).

Guess maybe it's hitting too close to home for you, huh?

NP. If that is your company policy for management, then I suppose you are just doing your job. It does ago against trend though: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-leadership/wp/2015/07/21/in-big-move-accenture-will-get-rid-of-annual-performance-reviews-and-rankings/

For small companies, it might make more sense to have a system where managers can run profiles of internet usage, put together reports, and take action, but as this article describes, bigger companies look across the board at thousands of managers doing this sort of thing, and it translates into millions of dollars a year. They are trying to do less of this kind of thing and focus more on overall outcomes of work, productivity etc.

I also don't understand how you would even make assumptions or "rate" an employee based on internet usage. The 9-5 job is really gone for many working professionals. If you are running time on DCUM or other non work websites, are you also looking at non traditional work hours that the employee is on Outlook or on work related tasks? I ask because my company is international and there are several folks who get up to do international calls at odd times - and may work 6-8 in the morning from home, or in the evening, etc.

I do not want my team to spend time managing and monitoring computer usage in the manner you are describing, but if this is something your leadership condones than by all means continue. If someone is not doing their work, I'd hope it would show up in other ways. Otherwise, the question I would ask is, are you not giving your people enough to do, and do we need to revisit how big your team is and how many people we have staffed you with? Just seems like this could back fire on a manager and I hope you are using other metrics to decide when to fire someone.