Responding to a Chicago Tribune repot about an increased crackdown on internet usage at work (Registration Required), Glenn Reynolds has an article at TCS Daily about why these crackdowns aren’t necessarily a good idea:

Well-run companies look at outputs — how well people are doing their jobs — rather than simply trying to make sure that employees look busy. And given that U.S. economic performance over the past few years, as Internet usage has boomed, has been excellent, it’s hard to believe that this websurfing is really threatening productivity. Instead, I suspect, it’s threatening management’s sense of control. (After all, if they really cared about people wasting their time with computer technology, they’d ban PowerPoint, not Web-surfing.)

Glenn goes on to note that blocking internet access from the work computer is, at best, a stop-gap measure. Laptops are, increasingly, being equipped with cards that not only access Wireless LANs, but EVDO cards that allow for wireless internet access anywhere you can get cell phone service. Sure, companies could ban those laptops, but what about cell phones (My UTStarcom PPC6700 provides internet access that beat my home access until I moved a couple of weeks ago, and while it’s not optimal (very few websites provide a separate look for handheld screens), it’s certainly sufficient for most of the stuff people would want to look up on a whim) and PDAs?

From the Chicago Tribune story:

“If you’re watching video, you’re probably not working,” said Vimal Solanki, director of product marketing at McAfee Inc., a software vendor whose products to block Web access are selling briskly.

That is an astounding observation, isn’t it? “If you’re watching video, you’re probably not working.” Probably true, but is that really sufficient reason why companies should restrict internet use? If “not working” is banned in the workplace, I want to see a concerted effort to ban personal phone calls, doodling, daydreaming, casual non-work conversations with co-workers, and every single other non-work activity that goes on during the day.

Of course, there are good reasons for cracking down on at least some types of internet usage. It wouldn’t take very many people watching streaming video to tie up bandwidth otherwise reserved for business usage. There are also security issues to deal with, as well as the potential for lawsuits if one employee uses the internet to access sites that could be considered sexually harrassing (or simply causing a “hostile work environment”). Trying to manage every minute of an employee’s time, though, isn’t sufficient reason.

I’m certainly not saying that companies don’t have every right to ban internet usage (or, in fact, any of those other things I just mentioned) in the work place, but doing so is shortsighted at best. As Glenn points out, the best way to increase workplace productivity is to monitor, well, productivity, and reward/reprimand workers based on whether or not they’re getting their job done.