Thursday, November 6, 2014

IM the time thief?


What is time theft? Time theft is when an employee uses time being paid by the employer to engage in tasks not involving work or simply not doing tasks assigned while at work.

In the case of instant messaging, it can certainly become a time thief. Beware the co-worker who wants to turn your day into a chatathon.

So you're at work, in the zone and all of a sudden your IM notifies you of a message. You check it and it's Chatty Cathy. She's a great work friend and you often spend your lunch hour with her but she has a habit of making your lunch social hour extend into the rest of the afternoon. Unintentionally or not, Ms. Cathy is stealing time. Time from her own work day and now yours by monopolizing your time via Instant Message. Depending on your work environment, this can be a big no no and lead to disciplinary action if you're caught.

How do you handle the time thief? Keep your IM's short and sweet. Keep them work focused and if it gets into social territory gently let them know that you're working on a project/deadline and that you'll discuss it with them at lunch or after hours.

Another option is ignoring social messages. I don't recommend this as it can come off as rude and if the work relationship is otherwise good, it could really sour your environment. The best course is to be honest and let them know you're busy. It's polite, it's to the point and hopefully your time thief will take the hint.

As an employer, you do have options for monitoring time theft. There are programs available to track how time is spent by your employees.Great programs will allow you to track time spent on emails, IM, and how people generally spend their day while working.

On a final note, I leave you with a scene from The Office.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_isgn5JMVk



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