SOCIAL NETWORKING IN THE WORKPLACE

Transcription

1 M I C H I G A N T E C H N O L O G I C A L U N I V E R S I T Y SOCIAL NETWORKING IN THE WORKPLACE ANN DAHLQUIST ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION 03/20/2015 H O U G H T O N, M I

2 INTRODUCTION Communication seems to be changing along with the advancement in technology. The strides in technology cause shifts with the expectation of professionalism in the workplace. In the past ten to fifteen years, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking forums has taken over ways in which people communicate both casually and professionally. It is important to understand the etiquette with communication using technology in order to follow the guidelines of acceptability as a professional. Image is very important in the professional workplace because you want your service to remain credible. TECHNOLOGIES AT WORK There are many different acceptable and even encouraged technologies in the workplace nowadays. As stated in Constant Connectivity: Rethinking Interruptions at work written by Judy Wajcman and Emily Rose, is the most used and mediated form of communication in the workplace environment today. alone has taken many different forms of etiquette from a casual dialogue to a professional document. As discussed in Wajcmann and Rose s report, they questioned the original ideas on technology and distractions in the workplace. They defined the criteria for their experiment and found that the majority of time spent on tasks in the workplace is roughly 10 minutes, which I think inhibits the behavior to use technology in the workplace. They found that although face-to-face meeting is still highly effective; technologies such as have a place within the workplace as well. 1

3 There are issues with these ideas. For example, as discussed in my Organizational Communication class, there is a new problem that arose for people called technostress. It essential explains that a person can feel the pressure to be constantly connected. As looked at from the above article, there are benefits to technologies within the workplace, but there are downfalls to a constant connectivity like pressure to be communicating (or just connected), tendency to fall into multitasking distraction cycles, and little time for self. These are often overlooked because of the benefits from such quick communication. Other issues from technologies in the workplace include the distractions and inappropriate use. In an article written by Margaret Weigel called Social Media in the Workplace: Research Roundup, she s with the Harvard Kennedy School s Journalist Resource analyzes many research documents and analyzes their findings. Her explanation includes the liability issues that many employees face by content from their social networking sites. For example, a waitress at an Applebee s restaurant posted a photo of a bill on which the customer wrote, I give God 10%, why do you get 18%? While the restaurant employee stated that her post was lighthearted and that no harm was intended, she was fired. Other articles argue that technology causes the employee to be absent. Not meaning to debate on working at home, in Effect of Social Media Participation in the Workplace on Employee Productivity it explains that the employee may be absent even if they are physically present. The idea is also known as decreased presenteeism. Presenteesim is essentially a decrease in work productivity due to ailments such as faking sick, excessive internet searching, or attending work while sick. The article exemplifies a conservative 2

4 view on the stimulation provided by social media in the workplace. It explains the importance for employees to actively seek cognitive and emotional stimulation from their work environment. There are many questions on how upper management should respond to the changing norms. A popular theory from The Impact of Social Media in the Workplace explains that companies should devote their efforts to the creation of clear policies regarding technology during the workplace. The company should lay out their policy on privacy while promoting it as a working tool. The workplace can greatly benefit from technology, while avoiding an uphill battle against the communication benefits that technology offers. INTERVIEW METHOD I conducted a thirty minuet interview with my friend from home Mel because she works at a position where I could see myself in the future. She is a young professional who recently graduated from college five years ago. She provides a perspective that may be similar to my own. I think that as professionals that grew up using technologies enter positions of management there could be a noticeable shift in means of communication. QUESTION RESPONSE 1. What is your title? Content Management & Technical Communicator 2. What industry or profession are you in 3. What is your educational background? 4. What ongoing certifications are Kohler Co. Kitchen & Bath Americas Scientific & Technical Communication B.S. Strong communication skills, proficiency and adaptability to learn new software (ex: Adobe 3

5 required or preferred in your profession? 5. How long have you worked in this professional role? Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Dreamweaver, Gimp Shop) and programming languages (Audacity, VBA, JAVA, ArborText, Editor, XML, Contenta, HTML, WindChill) It has been about 9 months. USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA 1. How is your company making use of social media? 2. How important is social media use in your role as a professional? 3. In what ways does social media use affect your professional credibility? 4. How does social media use affect your relationships with colleagues and office coworkers? There is a FaceBook page, Youtube channel, Twitter page, LinkedIn, etc. Social media is used mainly to advertise products or job openings which are crucial for the company. There are also many instructional videos that help customers when they are installing new product. There are instructional videos on social media sites that I have helped develop which contributes to my credibility to complete projects. Social media does not typically affect my relationships with others but is more of a way to communicate ideas. PROFESSIONAL IMAGE & SOCIAL MEDIA 1. Does social media usage cross some social boundaries between coworkers 2. In your opinion, how do social media benefit or disrupt the workplace? Social media use in the workplace is kept professional. No personal accounts are used which would affect the image of an individual. Social media helps benefit the workplace because it is a great way to quickly and consistently relay information to a wide audience. Especially in today s society, technology and social media have grown to become important aspects in people s everyday lives. This is true for businesses as well when they are trying to speak to a wide audience. 4

6 3. Has social media use in the workplace changed the way you use certain social networking websites? Social media in the workplace is not used frequently enough to change the way that I use social media personally. DISCUSSION It is pretty obvious that communication has shifted to a complex system that involves varying degrees of etiquette, privacy, and professionalism. I wanted to understand two different scholarly sides to this topic. I learned that Mel s mindset is very common among new professionals. I am curious how technology will shape the means of communication for professionals as employees from a technological era advance further in the hierarchy of their careers. For the time being, technology plays a large role in the workplace for many reasons such as convenience, advertising, mass communication, and cultural shifts. Various technologies such as are necessary for the workplace environment. The pressure to stay connected with social media provides benefits in workplace; however, it is clearly something that may need to be regulated in the future. I worry that the professional image will overlap further into more social areas of people s lives. 5

7 References Herlle, M., Astray-Caneda, V. The impact of social media in the workplace. Florida international university. Retrieved from Munene, A. G., & Nyaribo, Y. M. (April 2013). Effect of social media peritcation in the workplace on employee productivity. International journal of advances in management and economics, 2(2), Retrieved from Sotirin, P. (2015). Technologies 2015[PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from Sotirin, P. (2015). Technology II 2015[PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from Wajcman J., & Rose E., (2011). Constant connectivity: rethinking interruptions at work. Organizational studies, 32. Retrieved from 0 Weigel, M. (April 11, 2013). Social media in the workplace: research roundup. Journalists resource, Retrieved from 6