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> Sadly, this does involve company assets. This involves company time.
> Companies are usually fairly flexible about this, but it should still
> be acknowledged. I am not a manager but I know how they think. From 8
> - 5 or whenever, you're on company time. There was a discussion on
> another list about this. People wanted to do creative writing --
> hopefully on their lunch hour -- and didn't know how to do this without
> involving company assets. The consensus seemed to be to use a USB
> stick. Okay, fine. Then a real live manager chimed in, saying that, if
> you do anything but your job on company time, then -- technically
> speaking -- you are stealing from him, and that's called theft. I'm
> just saying.
As a manager, I expect that my staff will check email, surf the net, take personal phone calls,
etc. while at their desk. Even as salaried employees, people are entitled to two 10 minute
breaks per day that are "on the clock" and of course, there are personal breaks throughout
the day. It's also possible to multi-task. I've got help authors and product testers working for
me. If you take a few minutes to check email or make an internet purchase while your
computer is chugging away on another task, that is OK by me. If you are in the hall chatting
with an engineer for a few minutes, that is OK by me (it's part of forming better working
relationships). As a manager, it is my job to keep an eye out to ensure that none of these little
breaks throughout the day (which can increase productivity) turns into a big problem.
I take my laptop home about 50% of the time. I use it for personal computing
(surfing/emailing while drinking my Saturday or Sunday morning coffee). The flip side of this
is that I always check my work email before signing off, and I very often end up working --
answering email from an affiliate or rep who's in a different timezone and who may already be
into his or her work week.
As Keith pointed out, if you work for an employer who doesn't allow this kind of flexibility,
perhaps it's time to move on.
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