Facebook and work, Allies or Enemies

Facebook has in this day and age been the driver of most change in the world. And by Facebook I mean the whole social media buzz that has been embraced by the Y-Generation or are we at Z already? (These alphabet generations keep changing; don’t know what will follow after Z generation.). As a whole, social media has been credited with so much; the rise and fall of governments, the election of our beloved Cousin President Obama, the success and failure of businesses and products. Basically it’s now responsible for setting the local and international social agenda. Every global leader has a Facebook or Twitter account or both in there name as they try get ‘with it’, even our own leaders have turned to social media as the new battle front in the next general election. The likes of Tuju, Kalonzo and Uhuru Kenyatta are active on Facebook as they try to appeal to the young who have joined Facebook in the millions, there is however doubt on whether they actually use the accounts themselves. Safaricom has now turned to twitter for the provision of customer support services and its doing quite well I must say. Politicians, businesses, entertainers, environmentalists, governments, etc have all come to the realization that; social media is where everyone is at.

So coming back to the Kenyan management scene, I have to say we are yet to embrace the new phenomenon (may be not so new) to work for us far more than in the developed world. Companies and even educational institutions are spending a lot of resources to limit the access to social media especially at work. The reason for this is that the employees are considered to waste a lot of company time on this sites that they would otherwise have used more productively. This is just a lazy excuse as employees slack off either way, even before Facebook this was the case and even where Facebook is controlled there are still numerous things that can be considered distraction from work. At least with Facebook they are still physically present at work more so on their desk. There are the storytellers in the office, who demand your undivided attention, then there is the newspaper (Crazy Monday), the sweet text messages from sweetheart(...like the naughty one I just got), the calls from friends, and most employees will agree the biggest distraction is often the boss as he calls in his orders. If all this is in the office, who is to point an accusing finger at Facebook as a distraction. Statistics from a survey by USAToday; I know that isn’t exactly Daily Nation but it shows that more than half of U.S. workers waste an hour or more a day on interruptions: 60% come from electronic devices and e-mails, while the other 40% come from traditional sources, such as phone calls or chats with colleagues. The average worker wastes 2.5 hours a week looking for documents missing in poorly organized electronic files. So for me there are just too many distractions in this day and age for some to claim Facebook is so big a deal especially at work to warrant the lengths that some organizations go to curtail its use. Going by the findings of that survey you are better off organizing your files better as more time is wasted that way.

Don’t get me wrong am not trying to justify using Facebook at work on the grounds that there are many other possible distractions because for me social networking sites have more to offer and can compliment work and work to the employers benefit. Someone once described a small organization that has formed a group on Facebook and they all log in to Facebook as a matter of duty. This group has become the notice board and even chatting on Facebook is now a way of enquiring stuff from colleagues even when working in the field. This had turned the office into a less stuck up place, imagine that all your colleagues are your Facebook friends or for the less technologically alive, your Facebook friends are all your colleagues, it just makes communication a bit easier. Even bigger organisations are now turning to social media to revive the fun in the office and in this sense Facebook is becoming a source of motivation for the staff. Trust me I dread the thought of my boss following me on twitter or checking out some of the updates on Facebook; let alone the photos, but yet again, I kind of want a boss that understands all that (even the ones about him) that would be so cool. But the modern day boss should encourage that kind of freedom at work, the Z-Generation likes and works well in a more open environment and not in the dictatorial kind of office where they bow down to the boss as they pledge their allegiance in the morning as boss who strikes fear into every heart. Those days are gone.

Then there is all the useful information and associations that one can have on Facebook. You can always find someone to ask about your professional or personal interests on Facebook,  there are groupings of people in the same field that share information, there even business associates that one can keep closer using social media. The amount of information on the social sites especially Facebook is just immense and may just be giving Google a run for its money. If you don’t know about some, just check them out on Facebook or LinkedIn, they will tell you about themselves even with out you asking. I personally bug my friends on Facebook with work related questions on fields I believe they can help me with and in so doing end up applying Facebook in my work. Basically social site are fast becoming the leading source on information. Be it disasters, breaking news, keeping up with announcements by public bodies and so on. All this is available; but you have to be there to enjoy these benefits.

Ever met a friend and it felt like you just met the day before? This to some extent is a common feeling. By just exchanging a line or two every now and then or checking out what your friends are up to it has reduced that need for face to face meetings or long telephone conversations to keep friendships going not to forget the airtime costs in these times of Safaricom increasing the call costs and a weak shilling. This can be used to the advantage of the employers especially those that work on weekends. It’s just human to want to keep up with your friends and family and to feel you belong; think Maslow had something to say about that. But for demanding jobs, most employees find themselves cut out and disconnected from their once close friends as work consumes most of their time. Here Facebook works like a charm, by the employer providing that avenue for constantly having online contact with friends, these bonds aren’t lost and somehow the organization ends up with a happy overworked employee who is still dedicated to the work. The face to face in that case can wait for the when the employee is on leave.

All in all it's hard if not impossible to put in eight hours of work each without taking breaks here and there, may be you talk to coworkers, check Facebook, take long lunches and instant message friends, read a tabloid, take a snooze it’s all just human. All I believe the managers of today should not view this distractions as the enemy as more often than not resisting them ends up in a less motivated employees. And this can’t be truer than for the younger working generation who demand freedom and trust. Don’t demonise or ban these habits without looking for more innovative ways of making them work to your advantage. Luckily Facebook and other social media have great room to be utilized to make a better work place, a more productive worker and ultimately an effective organization. Having the internet with controlled access to sites is like being left in a house with all the rooms locked except the kitchen and the johns, sure you can do all that you have to do to live, but it isn’t fun at all and what this shows is the level of distrust and disrepute for your self control. So giving the employees a bit more freedom and trusting that they are responsible and will do the right thing may just motivate the workers some more.