Don t Get Left Behind by Tech-Savvy Employees | Instant Messaging Rules: A Business Guide to Managing Policies, Security, and Legal Issues for Safe IM Communication

Don’t Get Left Behind by Tech-Savvy Employees

There is no doubt that workers—not management—are driving the instant messaging revolution. IM is emerging as the communications tool of choice among workers who are eager for rapid realtime chat.

Unfortunately, in many offices, the strategic management of IM lags well behind its actual use. When it comes to instant messaging, there is often a technological rift between employees who rely on IM for speedy business communications, and executives who mistakenly dismiss IM as a teenage fad. Consequently, the business, legal, and technological challenges surrounding IMhave been slow to develop as hot-button topics for some corporate decision makers.

In some cases, senior executives and IT managers are simply unaware that their employees are already using IM at work. In other cases, employers are aware of renegade IM use, but have not put IM-related rules, policies, and tools into place to control the risk of litigation and other disasters. In still other cases, IT budgets are too small to deal with IM, so management has made a conscious decision to close their eyes to it—for now.

IM Rule # 2: Take control of instant messaging risks today, or face potentially costly consequences tomorrow.

Perhaps these ill-prepared employers are waiting for high-profile IM-related disasters to strike other hapless organizations before taking control of IM use and abuse in their own offices. Maybe they have yet to be convinced that an investment in IM management is worthwhile. Perhaps they are still so busy trying to manage employee e-mail and Internet use that they can neither find the time nor muster up enough senior-level interest to address the ‘‘ emerging’’ technology that is instant messaging.

Whatever the reason for inaction, one fact is clear: Employers who fail to manage IM today risk challenges that include breaches in security and privacy, legal claims and regulatory fines, and decreased employee productivity—all potentially costly problems.