Managers with outdated notions about controlling employees are misusing technology to monitor and micro-manage those employees, according to Microsoft-sponsored research published by the London School of Economics.
InfoWorld reports that The Future Role of Trust in Work, released this week by the LSE, collated research from 15 field studies done around the world over the last three years.
The survey report shows that managers are using technologies such as email, mobile phones, and SMS to keep tabs on employees when what they’re actually doing is reducing employees’ productivity and the amount of time they spend serving customers.
Carsten Sorensen, an LSE researcher and author of the report, said that modern work has become more mobile and less visible to managers, causing them to use mobile technology to check in on workers. Meanwhile employees are seeking to demonstrate to managers their diligence, through a flood of email and messages, he said.
Sorensen said that this is an inappropriate use of the technology and we should be working on creating new technologies that foster group work and increased transparency in a trusted environment. He suggested a shift away from individual productivity tools to technology that offers group productivity.
The LSE research report will be available for download from the LSE website (it’s not there as of writing this post).
InfoWorld | Managers misuse tech to control workers, study says
Update 22 December: Finally! The report is now available for download from Microsoft UK’s website. PDF file, about 5.3Mb.
http://download.microsoft.com/documents/uk/business/Tomorrows_Work_Report_Final.pdf