Personable, But Not Too Personal
During a couple days last week I listened to someone in a nearby cubicle explaining Facebook to his supervisor (bless her heart) and then "friending" her. Knowing what I do about this guy's life, I'm not sure he really needs to be inviting his boss into his personal world.
A friend mentioned something similar to me last week. His company's about to expand their use of Facebook, and he wondered about friending his boss. I advised against that, suggesting maybe he could set up a second, professional account instead, but he said he'd probably never log into that second account, something I've heard from other folks before.
The question this creates for me is: if I'm the boss, how much to I want to be enmeshed in my employees' personal lives? How much do I really want to know???
My friend made the point that in past jobs he's always been most effective when he's gotten along well with his co-workers and bosses, sharing personal stories and talking about more than just work. This makes sense; you tend to work better with the people with whom you get along well.
But how well do you need to get along to work well together? How far do you have to go? How much do you really need to blend your personal and professional lives?
Social networking sites are a key part of those questions. We often put out far more information on Facebook than we would ever discuss in the office. We also have less control over what gets communicated; friends can tag us in photos or post things to our walls that others can see, and by the time we know it's there, lots of people may have already seen it. It's good to be personable at work, it helps people work together better, but we need to consider some limits as technology increases the potential for sharing information far beyond what we ever would have shared in the past.
So, be friendly with your employees. Take an interest in their personal lives, without becoming a stalker. Know about the good things like a birthday coming up, or the bad things like a death in the family or trouble at home. Knowing your employees better will help you work with them better. But before you go overboard, ask yourself how much you really want to know about their personal lives.
And perhaps more importantly, you might ask yourself how much you want them knowing about yours.
A friend mentioned something similar to me last week. His company's about to expand their use of Facebook, and he wondered about friending his boss. I advised against that, suggesting maybe he could set up a second, professional account instead, but he said he'd probably never log into that second account, something I've heard from other folks before.
The question this creates for me is: if I'm the boss, how much to I want to be enmeshed in my employees' personal lives? How much do I really want to know???
My friend made the point that in past jobs he's always been most effective when he's gotten along well with his co-workers and bosses, sharing personal stories and talking about more than just work. This makes sense; you tend to work better with the people with whom you get along well.
But how well do you need to get along to work well together? How far do you have to go? How much do you really need to blend your personal and professional lives?
Social networking sites are a key part of those questions. We often put out far more information on Facebook than we would ever discuss in the office. We also have less control over what gets communicated; friends can tag us in photos or post things to our walls that others can see, and by the time we know it's there, lots of people may have already seen it. It's good to be personable at work, it helps people work together better, but we need to consider some limits as technology increases the potential for sharing information far beyond what we ever would have shared in the past.
So, be friendly with your employees. Take an interest in their personal lives, without becoming a stalker. Know about the good things like a birthday coming up, or the bad things like a death in the family or trouble at home. Knowing your employees better will help you work with them better. But before you go overboard, ask yourself how much you really want to know about their personal lives.
And perhaps more importantly, you might ask yourself how much you want them knowing about yours.
posted by Will at
3:00 AM
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3 Comments:
Good points...what would you suggest if a co-worker adds you as a friend though? It would be awkward not to add them but it could also be risky as you've pointed out.
Hmmmm...well, you can do one of two things, I think. Either talk to them and explain you don't mix work and Facebook, or add them, but use the Privacy Settings to restrict their access. I hesitate to do that second one myself, because I feel like if I have to limit what they see, there's little reason to have them on my Facebook.
Of course, I still recommend my other option: have a second account. But people don't seem to want to do that.
Yeah, I feel like I spend enough time on Facebook already and I only have one account. :)
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