If you have been reading (business-related) news over the past year, you have likely noticed that “going back to the office” won’t happen any time soon; even after the pandemic is over. Research has shown that a lot of people are not looking forward to working from an office again and that they would rather work from home – even if the world is safe and COVID-free.
This means that computer monitoring software is here to stay. However, for those who have never worked with computer monitoring software, it might seem a bit complicated or challenging. Fear not, because we are going to learn more about how to block a website and the connection between blocking websites and productivity.
Social Media
Even though we might not want to admit it, the truth is that social media is the ultimate killer of productivity. Have you ever found yourself mindlessly scrolling through the vast sea of social media posts for hours on end? That is what scientists call a “dopamine loop” or “dopamine seeking-reward loop”.
Some even call it the disease of the twenty-first century since these loops are hard to break and they are “eaters” of productivity. Using social media can be quite entertaining, but engaging in social media isn’t something that an employee should do while on the company hour.
Social media websites should be one of the first websites that an employer blocks if they want to have productive and efficient employees. If you want to get one step ahead of the dopamine loops, the easiest solution is to simply have social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. blocked.
Entertainment Websites
Even though we look at social media for entertainment, social media isn’t the only source of online entertainment there is. YouTube, Twitch and other video streaming websites have gained a lot of popularity over the past five years. Believe it or not, but more and more people have at least one Internet personality or show that they follow with lots of dedication.
As an employer, you want to ensure that your company’s buck is being spent well, and an easy way to do that is to keep entertainment websites blocked. Video streaming websites are also known to be bandwidth hogs; clogging up the internet speed of the company.
Yes, cat videos are beyond cute and fun to watch, but definitely not something that an employee should be dedicating time to while on the clock. Other types of entertainment websites that should be blocked in order to increase productivity are gaming and gambling websites.
Games and online gambling platforms are the perfect distraction for almost any situation. More and more psychologists are talking about the harmful effects of these kinds of websites and how addictive they can be. All in all, blocking these kinds of websites should be a no-brainer.
Inappropriate Websites
We have all heard at least one horror story of someone watching pornographic content at work and the consequences that it had. Firstly, engaging in this kind of content in a work environment is highly unprofessional and will certainly make both the employers and other employees feel extremely uncomfortable.
In order to avert some liabilities and prevent exceedingly awkward situations, websites of this sort should always be strictly blocked. The internet is truly an amazing place that offers us so much information and an exceptional amount of insight, but it can also be an incredibly damaging and horrifying place.
You don’t even need to access the dark web in order to see hateful and violent websites. As an employer, it is unacceptable to have your employees view these types of websites. Even as a preventative measure, this website block should be in place.
For example, an employee could accidentally click on a link in a spam mail. If that type of website is already blocked, then no harm is done. When speaking about inappropriate websites, websites with offensive humor (most often forum-like websites such as 4Chan and Reddit) should also be blocked.
As an employer or manager, you don’t want the bad behavior or sense of humor of a single employee to represent what it is like working for your company. This also lowers the chances of workplace harassment.
Shopping Websites
Just like it isn’t okay to view previously mentioned websites – it isn’t okay to shop while on company time. The reasoning behind this is quite obvious; it’s simply another way to unproductively spend time when the employee should be working.
This is considered a misuse of the internet at the workplace. By blocking shopping websites, you are eliminating distractions and even protecting yourself, as well as your business, from potential hacks and data leaks.
Shopping websites are almost always riddled with a bunch of pop-up ads that can take you to the most forgotten parts of the internet. If an employee were to click on an ad or a link on the website, there are high chances that they will slow down the internet bandwidth or that they might (accidentally) compromise sensitive and valuable company data.
Knowing Exactly What Websites to Block Helps Your Company
When blocking websites, (depending on the computer monitoring software) you are given multiple options. You can create an “allowed list” and a “blocked list” of websites that can and cannot be browsed during work time. Activating safe search and download filters is also highly recommended in order to improve productivity.
You can also create categories and simply block whole categories of websites. Computer monitoring software offers an administrative panel once the installment on company-issued PCs and laptops is completed. There, you will be able to customize what parts of the internet need to be blocked for your employees.
You can also put different alarms in place in order to be notified when an employee tries to access a blocked website. Blocking websites is an easy solution that leads to improved productivity and security, faster internet, and more harmony at the workplace.
Computer monitoring software offers some peace of mind and makes managing employees and their behavior on the clock much easier. Once you have the desired parameters set in place, all you’ll need to do is sit back – as the software does everything for you.