Appendix B: Instant Messaging and E-Mail Policy Dos and Don ts


Dos

  1. Do establish comprehensive, written policies that address employee use of instant messaging and e-mail.

  2. Do educate all employees about IM and e-mail risks and policy compliance.

  3. Do communicate that the organization’s IM and e-mail systems are to be used mainly for business communication. But don’t stop there. Provide clear guidance on what is and is not considered appropriate electronic business communication.

  4. Do bear in mind that some personal use of your organization’s IM and e-mail systems may be warranted. American workers today put in more on-the-job hours than at any time in history. For employees who leave the house before dawn and don’t return until well past dark, IM and e-mail may be the most efficient and effective way to stay in touch with children, spouses, and other family members.

For the sake of employee morale, many employers are willing to accommodate their employees’ need for some personal IM and e-mail use. Use your written policy to let your employees know where you stand on this issue, and spell out exactly how much personal IM and e-mail use (if any) is acceptable.

  1. Do incorporate an overview of your organization’s discrimination and sexual harassment policies within your IM and e-mail policies. Because of the relaxed, informal nature of IM and e-mail, some employees will put in writing comments they never would say aloud. Make sure employees understand that, regardless of how it is transmitted, an inappropriate comment is an inappropriate comment. All it takes is one offensive message to land your organization on the wrong side of an expensive, protracted lawsuit.

  2. Do review your written IM and e-mail policies with all employees. New hires and long-time employees, executives and board members, managers and supervisors, full-time professionals and part-time staff, telecommuters and temporary employees, independent contractors and freelancers—everyone should be informed of your IM and e-mail usage policies. Have all employees sign and date a copy of each policy to confirm they have read, understand, and agree to comply with each document.

  3. Do incorporate your written IM and e-mail policies into your organization’s employee handbook and new-hire orientation materials. Have the organization’s human resources director review IM and e-mail policies with every new employee.

  4. Do address ownership issues and privacy expectations. Let employees know that the contents of the IM and e-mail system belong to the organization, not the individual user. If management monitors and reads employee instant messages and e-mail, say so. Make sure employees understand that their instant messages and e-mail can, and will, be read at any time without notice to, or permission of, the employee.

If there is any chance you may want to monitor employees’ home computers, make that clear as well. If you allow the use of personal IM clients, use your written policy to inform employees that they also have no reasonable expectation of privacy when it comes to messages transmitted via consumergrade tools across public networks.

  1. Do support your IM and e-mail policies with content and language rules designed to reduce risks by controlling what employees chat about electronically.

  2. Do establish netiquette policies for instant message and e-mail senders and receivers—executives, managers, and staff.

  3. Do establish and implement IM and e-mail retention and deletion strategies.

  4. Do establish IM and e-mail security policies. Put into place procedures, training, and tools designed to help keep malicious hackers, cyberthieves, eavesdroppers, and internal saboteurs out of your IM and e-mail systems.

  5. Do install policy-based content-filtering software to monitor and block instant and e-mail messages that violate the organization’s policies or regulatory rules.




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

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