Last week’s news highlighted the different variations of the Facebook story. It is widely believed that Facebook could be responsible for a loss of $5 billion to businesses, as productive work hours turn into time spent updating profiles and connecting with friends and colleagues across the globe. In many companies across Australia and New Zealand, Facebook is fast being added to the list of sites on the ‘banned’ list, joining MSN Messenger, MySpace, YouTube and Second Life, which are also considered addictive, distracting and a drain on productivity.
Can limiting access prove to be a productivity drain in itself?
According to a survey undertaken by Leadership Management Australia, “enjoying a good relationship with other staff” is one of the top 5 factors that will positively influence an employee. And today, many of these relationships start with email interactions. We are now used to saying ‘it’s great to finally meet you in person’ because in many cases our daily virtual interactions outnumber our personal interactions. Facebook is just another way to connect with people, putting a face to a name immediately, and is being used by many organisations positively – providing social connectivity amongst those who don’t have time to interact personally every day.
According to Matt Cohler, Facebook’s VP of strategy, “we’re seeing pretty encouraging levels of activity in work networks.” Cohler gave examples of companies like Shell Oil, Procter & Gamble, and General Electric who have thousands of employees in their networks.
Read more here: RedBalloon
APLINK - itsReal 