Social Networking – good for productivity or just a drain on resources?

There’s no denying the popularity of social networking websites, such as Facebook, Bebo and LinkedIn.   However, can they really deliver benefits for the typical business, or are they a distraction that reduces productivity and places yet more strain on IT?  What are the business and technical implications of allowing – or disallowing – access for your employees?

While the prime use of social networking services is – quite predictably – social, there can be business benefits when work and pleasure are mixed a little.  It’s said that many a great deal has been agreed on the golf course, with its face-to-face, social/business networking capabilities.  So, are social networking services – where online communities can interact with each other using email and/or instant messaging – a modern-day method of building closer working relationships?

The fact that these online services help to enable low-cost, rapid communications with contacts, suppliers and customers, could be turned to a business’s advantage.  Furthermore, specialist sites – such as LinkedIn – have obvious uses in helping employees to keep in contact with other professionals.  But here’s where we encounter our first issue – the ‘age divide’.  While the business and social benefits of a round of golf may be understood by senior management, do they buy in to these new methods of social exchange?  If not, then disallowing access to social networking sites – simply on the basis of a lack of understanding – could alienate younger employees, who may regard the services as an everyday tool for interacting with colleagues and contacts.

Information-overload… security… and compliance

With business email inboxes overflowing, information-overload is already an issue for virtually everyone in business.  Adding further communication streams could overwhelm all but the most diligent time-managers within your organisation.  Instant Messaging also has the potential to demand instant attention – regardless of real business priorities.  And… how many people can truly multi-task without it adversely affecting their efficiency?

Security is another important consideration.  Is there potential for sensitive information to be leaked during informal exchanges between an employee and an external third-party?  A further concern is whether the sites accessed by employees have adequate security provisions and whether any downloads could introduce Trojans or viruses into your systems.

There are potential issues around compliance – including whether the business will be able to record and track information that is exchanged by employees via a social networking service.  How do you ensure that sensitive information is not divulged – not just about your business, but possibly about your customers or suppliers – and false statements are not made?  And, if a dispute results, just how do you search and retrieve the relevant correspondence?  If you do establish a means to store and retrieve all communications… couldn’t that have massive repercussions for your IT resources and your budget?

What’s right for your business?

With all of these potential operational, security and compliance issues, you could be forgiven for thinking that simple considerations – such as how much bandwidth will be lost to these services – are relatively minor.  However, bandwidth is an important consideration – especially as any negative impact on the efficiency of your day-to-day business processes will lead to some tough questions being asked.

Although a few of the pros and cons of online social networking may be readily measurable, many of the benefits or disadvantages are very difficult to quantify.  However, a thorough analysis of whether it’s advisable for your business to grant employees access to social networking sites, will depend on your organisation’s ability to make informed assessments… and then regularly review those assessments in the light of growing experience within the organisation.  As with most business decisions, it’s a matter of ‘horses for courses’.  Perhaps the businesses that have the most to gain from social networking sites are those organisations that are looking to use the Internet to drive innovation or to take products or services to market.

Has your business embraced or rejected the use of online social networking sites during working hours… and, if so, what were the results – on employees and systems?