Blurring the Lines

Reposted:  This blog first ran on 12/18/12
I read an article in my local newspaper last week that breathlessly reported about a recent study indicating that a huge percentage of employees (60%) check personal social media sites more than once a day while at work.  The article goes on to calculate the lost productivity and the unfairness of this to employers.

I think the reporter is looking at this issue too narrowly.  The issue, as I see it, is more about the blurring of the lines between home and work.  I acknowledge that many people access personal social media sites at work.  I acknowledge that when you are updating your Facebook account you can't be balancing the ledgers or helping customers.  But what the reporter didn't explore was how often employers do the same thing to employees traditionally non-work hours. 

With the prevelence of smartphones, tablets and laptop computers, employees can access their work email accounts, if not the entirity of their computer files, from the comfort of the kitchen table.  Furthermore, as this access has become more prevalent, access beyond the work day is not considered going above and beyond the call of duty, it is expected.  How many of you have had someone ask you on Monday morning why you hadn't yet responded to the email that they sent you on Saturday?

Working at home has always happened.  My Dad's had his briefcase and "paperwork" that needed to be worked on.  I have replaced his briefcase with a laptop and a cellphone.  What is different now is that with cellphones, tablets and laptops many of us are expected to be on call 24/7.  Even vacations aren't sacrosanct.

Understand, I am not complaining about this.  I have chosen to work in the field of marketing communications.  As a media spokesperson, I have usually have had to be on call.  Before cellphones, I often wore a pager.  Likewise, I have also almost always brought work home.  Some of that is because I sometimes find it easier to write away from the office. 

But if we are going to have a conversation about how mobile technology has allowed more people to access personal social media during work hours, I think it is important to also acknowledge that the same media has also made it possible to access work from home.  More and more, defining "work hours" has become difficult.