During the time when I was working in the corporate world, I used to wonder why the organisation blocked our access to certain sites, among them popular ones like msn, youtube, facebook, myspace and all internet emails like google, hotmail and yahoo. Now I understand.

For all the advantages that the new media brings with it, and that includes inter-world connectivity and the all popular buzzword of ‘multi-tasking’, it really isn’t multitasking from the employers’ point of view.

Imagine working on a project and suddenly, you hear a beep sound. Someone has just msn-ed you. And seconds later, another ‘oh oh’ sound is heard. That’s from your gmail chat. And not forgetting someone poked you on facebook. Plus the latest youtube video of Madonna gyrating in the MTV video that you are watching on Youtube. If all these scenarios happened, can you even concentrate on your project? No!

There are too many distractions in the form of this new media. And many of us choose to become victims of it. We have a choice not to login to msn, facebook and check our internet emails every 10 minutes. We have a choice. But how many of us really exercise this option?

Most of us are mentally and psychologically weak. We cannot resist the attractive lure of the new media. How can we compare a boring piece of project to that of the latest exciting music video on Youtube? There is just no comparison. It’s just comparing apples and oranges. And besides, since the boss is not around, why not skive? After all, we just need to pretend to act busy. It’s an innate skill that all of us don’t even need to be schooled in.

By doing so, we have become slaves of new media. We are being manipulated every moment we cannot make a choice. Should this carry on, it is no wonder a simple project which should take no more than 1 week has dragged on for 3 weeks. I can look into my crystal ball and see it stretching to the 4th week. A simple innocent looking ‘hi’ on msn can turn into a hour long conversation.

Now, shouldn’t service providers have a service agreement that they must adhere to? If they cannot deliver the service or product on time, shouldn’t they be penalised? I really think so. As a paying consumer, why should I be faulted for this irresponsible behaviour of your employee?

I don’t think you should penalise the organisation. You should instead penalise the individual staff who flouts office rules for his own enjoyment and cheap thrills. There is a slew of measures you can consider – docking his pay, giving him a warning letter, subjecting him to a piece of your mind or even booting him out.

If only people can just focus on the priorities in life, this world will be a more beautiful place to live in. No more unnecessary excuses or pretence. Focus and get the job done. If you wanna play, then you can play thereafter.

You don’t play now and keep delaying. This is not how things should be.

Comments(0)