Instant Messaging Content Must Be Monitored, Controlled, and Strategically Managed - Just Like E-Mail


Instant Messaging Content Must Be Monitored, Controlled, and Strategically Managed—Just Like E-Mail

Unfortunately, as the ‘‘2003 E-Mail Rules, Policies, and Practices Survey’’ reveals, many U.S.-based employers are still struggling to get a grip on employees’ e-mail content. For these employers, the management of IM language and subject matter will likely prove daunting.

Less than half (48 percent) of the 1,100 organizations surveyed educate employees about appropriate and inappropriate e-mail content. The majority of employers (51 percent) rely on untrained employees to differentiate electronic copy that is clean and compliant, from that which contains the type of potentially damaging language capable of triggering lawsuits and other e-disasters. [3]

Management’s failure to educate employees about e-mail and IM risks, rules, regulations, and policies is a shortsighted and potentially costly oversight. An educated workforce is more likely to comply with rules and policies, and more important, e-policy education can help form a defense against a sexual harassment lawsuit or a hostile work environment claim.

As previously noted, an organization may be held legally responsible for an employee’s misconduct including the transmission of offensive IM and e-mail content. However, the courts tend to take notice when an employer makes a reasonable effort to prevent a hostile work environment by establishing IM and e-mail policies and backing up those policies with comprehensive employee training.

Organizations that are eager to keep IM and e-mail content as clean, compliant, and risk-free as possible are advised to support policy and training programs with software tools. Unfortunately, many employers fail to take advantage of software to help control content-related risks.

[3]‘‘2003 E-Mail Rules, Policies, and Practices Survey,’’ conducted by American Management Association, The ePolicy Institute, and Clearswift. Survey findings available online at www.epolicyinstitute.com.




Instant Messaging Rules. A Business Guide to Managing Policies, Security, and Legal Issues for Safe IM Communication
Instant Messaging Rules: A Business Guide to Managing Policies, Security, and Legal Issues for Safe IM Communication
ISBN: 0814472532
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 241
Authors: Nancy Flynn

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net