No one wants to limit their employees, and sometimes doing so can upset the office balance. However, if you don’t find a middle between restricting social media use and allowing it, you’ll have a number of unproductive employees that are distracted by catching up with their friends and family. Because of this, it’s absolutely necessary to take steps to counter unmonitored Facebook use. Check out the two tips below to figure out where you can start today.
Get in the Know
Employees and employers alike have to keep up with technology and consistently be aware of all of the ways you can share information online. Pinterest and Instagram, for example, have hardly been around for a year but have influenced thousands upon thousands of people through pictures and crafty ideas. If you aren't reaching out to that audience, you're missing out on the potential for clients. In addition, there's Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, which have ALL been around for less than a decade. Employers should seek to have a good, solid understanding of social media tools so they can form strategies based on these platforms. It's also important to know about them and how to use them so that you can know how employees use them, too.
Set Expectations
Don’t let your employees do what they want, when they want it. Make sure that the expectations of them are perfectly clear. Maybe you allow social media use after certain daily tasks are done, or maybe you allow it during lunch or breaks. Maybe you don’t allow it at all. No matter what your decision, make sure that everyone at the company knows exactly what you expect. Let them know there are consequences for repeat offenders, and make those consequences clear.
