Creative Reaction

Many weeks ago, Ars Technica discussed a bleak report on employee misuse of the Internet. While this would concern anymanager or business owner, creative businesses offer additional challenges.

The Internet is a pervasive part of creative businesses. “Connectedness” is part of our jobs. That being said, I’d like to point out the hidden (or potential) costs every manager or owner of a creative business must be aware of:

1. Distraction. While the Internet is an incredibly powerful tool, allowing creatives to collaborate, research and find inspiration, I would argue that the Internet is every bit as much a threat to productivity and “human resources”. “Oh, I was just checking my e-Mail/Facebook/eBay sale/eBay bid/RSS feeds/the news, Twitter…” All of these can add up to hours each week or even within a single day! Salaries are your biggest expense. Do the Math.
2. Bandwidth. Though you probably know how much your Internet connection costs, it is difficult to measure how much of your bandwidth is used for business purposes. Based on personal experience as an IT pro, I can make a good estimate. As a percentage, we’re probably talking single digits. 
3. Security of sensitive documents. This largely has to do with peer-to-peer File Sharing programs, the point of which is to make sharing files easy. Such programs intentionally subvert security measures such as firewalls and often lead to sensitive documents being seen or distributed. Think tax forms, client lists, bank statements and IP theft.
4. Legal Exposure. These same peer-to-peer File Sharing programs also expose your business to  liability for copyright infringement (if copyrighted materials are being downloaded and therefore distributed by your employees) as well as liability if sensitive client data is leaked or stolen.

The mere mention of an Internet usage policy will likely draw fire. Creatives tend to have an aversion to rules. Yet, those same creatives need to understand that protecting business assets protects their jobs.

We’ll look at ways to manage Internet usage in a future post. Stay tuned.