Recap and IM Action Plan

1. Instant messaging is here, and it’s here to stay. Unfortunately, it also is creating an increasingly risky environment for workplace e-communications.

2. No organization—public or private, for-profit or not-for-profit, international giant or small business—can afford to allow employees to engage in unmanaged IM. The potential risks and costs are too great. Take strategic, preventive action now.

3. Combine screening technology with an internal audit to uncover your organization’s electronic liabilities and the extent and nature of your employees’ IM use, abuse, and misuse.

4. Use the information gleaned from IM screening tools and your internal survey to shape IM rules, policies, and training programs to meet the specific risks and needs of your organization and employees.

5. Be on the lookout for nonusers who would benefit from IM, in terms of enhanced productivity and improved communications. Don’t allow those employees to be left behind by colleagues who were early IM adopters.