While the biggest football tournament on earth is great news for me, and for football fans all over the world, business’s may be less excited. With matches readily available to watch over the internet and times clashing with working hours, the number of unaffected businesses will be very small indeed.

Effective internet management plays a large part in negating this but the approach taken will very much vary from business to business. Some will opt to block their staff from websites they feel will be counter productive while others will allow full access and just keep track of how much time (and bandwidth) is spent following the World Cup. Then, of course, there is everything inbetween.

Naturally, the approach to take depends entirely on the type of company, the workplace environment, and the damage that following personal interests during working hours could have on the business.

Personally, I’m an advocate of the middle ground in most cases. If employees work hard and put in the extra mile, they should be rewarded and given an element of freedom to manage their personal lives at work. However, with a large proportaion of websites designed to immerse the viewer and keep them browsing, there is a fine line to be drawn. 

The internet allows for the work/home lives to merge considerably and this flexibility can enhance the morale of the staff and actually increase productivity. On the other hand, it can (and often will) impair productivity and very quickly contribute to an office environment operating far below it’s potential.

Suprisingly, bandwidth use is something often overlooked when it comes to web restriction or monitoring and is a key element. Streaming or downloading video places a considerable strain on company networks as corporate bandwidth limits are met or exceeded. Internet access across the business will slow down, emails will take longer to send and recieve, and vital day to day process will be affected as a result.

What I am in no doubt of is that internet activity needs to be monitored and (in most companies) some websites need to be blocked. Employers and managers need to be aware when someone is taking advantage of resources to quickly prevent the problem becoming more of an issue.