Partner Article

Social sites an aid to business

Companies could use social networking technology to share documents and photos across the organisation, according to a think tank.

Demos argues that rather than banning sites such as Facebook, Bebo and MySpace, companies should allow staff to use them within set boundaries, for example to develop relationships with others in the company or exchange work-related information.

“In today’s difficult business environment, the instinctive reaction can be to batten down the hatches and return to the traditional command-and-control techniques that enable managers to closely monitor and measure productivity,” said Peter Bradwell, a researcher with Demos who wrote the report.

“Allowing workers to have more freedom and flexibility might seem counter-intuitive, but it appears to create businesses more capable of maintaining stability.”

But the report also called for clear guidelines concerning the use of such sites and for those who spend unreasonable amounts of time on them during work hours to face disciplinary action.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .