To begin with, I thought spying was absolutely okay! Not to say an authority for the management. If there is any reason to believe that the employers waste their time, the boss obviously should have the opportunity to investigate how matters stand.
A manager, in the article points out that he doesn’t “give a rat’s rear” what his employers do at home, that his business is what they do at work. It is an excellent view, which I very much like to share. But all of a sudden I realized how difficult it is to separate work and spare time. As a serious boss works for development, progress and fair play in his company, he must care about the credibility of his employers. Honesty and responsibility at work have a close connection with our leisure. How are we suppose to distinguish what’s spare time and what’s work?
Before I knew where I was, I began to change my mind. I thought of privacy, reminded myself of integrity and leisure time. Even though, there is nothing I like to conceal at the moment, there might be things I prefer people not to know about. Suddenly, I find that there is a slight difference between spying and control. Another difference we have to make clear.
At this stage I realized my thoughts of Snooping Bosses where a complete mess. Even, in the time of writing I have changed my opinion untold times. The reason could be that I am shilly-shally, but most likely it is because there are so many things, both pros and cons to allow for. Right now, I stand up for Snooping Bosses because I have convinced myself that only the knowledge of being supervised is enough to do what you’re told. Further if someone gets caught with cheating it will most likely be a long time before they try again.
Finally, I likt to say that i solely hope snoop is a temporary method, not necessary in the long run. It might be my own fallacy but i believe that all people actually try to do their best, work hard and in some way like to succeed.
I agree that there is a fine line between private life and work. I think the surveillance should be kept as low as possible and only be used where it really makes a different.
SvaraRaderaI think that some sort of surveillance or control will always be needed. There’ll always be jobs that people take only to get paid. In my experience (which I admit isn’t that extensive) there is always people who wants to do as little as possible.
Hi Emilia!
SvaraRaderaIt is no question that the difficulty of this matter is how and where we draw the line. It seems impossible to find a balance where employers could feel in control of that their employees are doing what they are supposed to without interfering too much with personal integrity. My instinctive thought on the matter was similar to yours, that snooping and monitoring in the workplace during office hours would be fencible as long as the staff is informed about it. However, I quickly realized that even though this seems fair in theory, it is very difficult to instate a balance that works practically.
/Josefine
I had the same feeling myself, thought I knew my attitude towards surveillance at work. After reading the article I find myself both for and against surveilance.
SvaraRaderaI'm definitely for when it comes to high risk jobs or work areas that are classified for example the military. In other areas I'm not convinced of the necessity.