On Tue, 9 Oct 2001, Jay Kline wrote:

> Many companies block their employees from viewing such sites as
> hotmail.com, AIM, and games.msn.com in hopes to maintain some
> productivity..  anyone heard of a company blocking slashdot.org for
> the same reasons? :-)

I saw something in an article about productivity that went something like
this:  Before computers, there was the water cooler.  Same issues,
different distractions.  Nothing will prevent bored people from goofing of
on the job.

My personal rant on this topic goes like this:  Productivity is a people
problem, not a technology problem.  Trying to cure people problems with
technology like blocking software is like trying to cure a rash with a
screwdriver.

It's kind of funny how these management types who pride themselves in
their ability to lead/manage/facilitate/whatever people don't address
things like this directly.  They hide behind web proxies and worker
surfing habit reports to avoid the real problem:  bored, under-motivated
workers.

It's a lot harder to motivate someone than it is to block a few web sites.