IT versus Angry Birds: Time to stop being the pig

As I rode to the airport this week, an interesting conversation sprung up on Twitter. It had started innocuously the night before about the Angry Birds game. The conversation quickly turned in the morning to the fact that one of the issues with games like Angry Birds is they’re addictive and can really eat into productivity. One tweeter mentioned that IT was not only the security police but the productivity police as well.

This has been an ongoing theme the last few weeks, especially since Yahoo declared that working from home would no longer be allowed. This change in policy was ascribed to people not getting their work done while working remotely. I know of many companies that have banned all games and the like from corporate-provisioned devices, as well as social apps like Facebook and Twitter. Some places have tried to do the same with employee-owned devices, which is shocking in itself. You own the device, but you can’t put the apps you’d like to on it? Seriously?

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The problem is that IT has become the productivity czar for the entire workforce. Not only is this misguided, it enforces the notion of IT as those who say no! It doesn’t help that many times IT accepts the role — some even relish the power that comes with it.

Although productivity policing isn’t a technology issue, IT does have technology tools that make it easy to implement policies of device imprisonment. You can blacklist apps, sometimes by category and sometimes by app name (the harder way). You can also go with the much gentler and nicer-sounding approach of whitelisting apps. It’s not any better, as it allows your users only the ability to install the apps that you deem safe or allowable. If they download anything not on the whitelist, they lose access to all corporate resources.

The real issue here is that we don’t trust our workers.

There’s nothing wrong with trying to protect your users from malicious apps, malware, and spyware. It’s good practice. Trust me: Your users don’t want their corporate or their personal data stolen and will be happy if you can help them out. Beyond that, what happened to personal responsibility? It needs to be part of the company’s culture that people take responsibility for their own actions. Heck, it should be part of the person’s own moral compass that they should take responsibility for their own actions.

It doesn’t say much when you don’t trust your own people to get their work done. I, like so many others, have been known to take a mental break and play a game of Sudoku, Temple Run, and even Angry Birds when I need a diversion at the office. I still do. Other times, I hop on Twitter and have short conversations with folks. Usually, I do this because I need a chance for my mind to wander. I’ve spent so long contemplating an issue that I can no longer see the forest for the trees. The break helps me to focus by letting my mind wander.

It’s not a question of not getting your work done, but of doing it better. I take responsibility for my time, and I do what I need to make sure I meet my commitments. If someone wants to play a game but is your top producer, why penalize him or her? Such people have figured out what works both for them and for you. Encourage them by enabling them to be flexible and agile, giving them the freedom to work in a way that allows them to be even more productive.

March Madness starts this week, and there will be loads of people who will stream the games at work, and it will be very difficult to get ahold of if it’s the right game. Is the best way to handle that to cut off the streams at the firewall? Unless you can enclose the company in a giant Faraday cage, people will use their cellular plans to get around it. Is it a bad thing? If your workers plan their day around it so they’re more productive before the games start and their work doesn’t suffer, why should you care?

Maybe the better way to handle it is to organize a viewing party in a conference room. People still need to bring their devices and those that have to work right then need to do that work, but with such a human approach, you can build team camaraderie and goodwill. The next time, you ask someone to stay late or work hard before a deadline, they will remember watching the games and will be more favorable toward that request for taking more of their time.

None of this means there aren’t people who are addicted to games, social networking, and video watching where, yes, their work product slips. There will always be people who have issues. The problem is that we become paranoid and let a few people cloud our judgement for the rest of our workforce.

Remember, we have managers where we work, and their responsibility is making sure that their teams get their work done. They need to manage effectively. When they see issues with people, they need to be handled effectively — not call in the IT police. If you have a worker who doesn’t get anything done, you as a manager have to step in. Maybe it becomes a personal day for them, or maybe they lose the privilege of flexible schedules and access to personal apps at work.

Keep in mind: Before people were playing Angry Birds, they were playing Solitaire or Mine Sweeper on their computers. Before that, they were reading the newspaper or doing crosswords when they got in. Learn to say yes to those who can mix personal and work, and let them take the responsibility for their own actions. Reserve your power for when you need to act.

A company that has to treat all their employees like children has little hope of succeeding. But those that treat their employees with respect and value their contributions are growing fast.

This article, “IT versus Angry Birds: Time to stop being the pig,” originally appeared at A Screw’s Loose and is republished at InfoWorld.com with permission (© Brian Katz). Read more of Brian Katz’s The Squeaky Wheel blog at InfoWorld.com or at A Screw’s Loose. For the latest business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.