Collaborative Post¦ Every modern office expects its staff to be computer literate, amongst other skills. This means that you should know what you should do on one of these devices, but also the things you shouldn’t be doing.
Computers are also a big part of your home life, which is why it is easy for the lines to become blurred. That is why this article seeks to help you find out what tasks are best left at home and not performed in the office so that you can maintain professionalism at work.
Know That Your Boss Can See Your Internet History
The internet has a million applications for daily life, which is one of the reasons why you will be using it so frequently at work. However, many of us will choose to use it at home for our own entertainment, and many office employees will spend their lunch break surfing the web.
This break time surfing is usually accepted by managers, but it is always a good idea to check as a courtesy. Also, try and remember that you are on a company computer, and anything you do in your free time is still going to reflect on the company. As such, your search history is likely to be monitored, so be careful about the sites you visit at work.
Do Not Perform Personal Tasks Without Permission
Although you will have a personal computer or laptop at home, you aren’t likely to have as many software packages or applications as your work office. Therefore, it can be tempting to use these devices to perform personal tasks that you cannot complete at home. However, you should always check with your manager beforehand.
Using company software for outside tasks usually goes unnoticed; however, if you create an error that affects company production you could find yourself in a lot of trouble. Even if you are only seeking to convert a personal PDF document, run it by your manager first or avoid using the work computers completely.
Avoid Using Public Wi-Fi
Computers have come a long way in the last twenty years, and it is perfectly normal to find yourself working remotely or while on the move nowadays. While it is perfectly safe to access your work documents when outside the office, you should always refrain from using public wi-fi when doing so.
You can never be too sure how secure these connections are, and a possible data breach could cause company data to fall into the wrong hands. Therefore, you are responsible for upholding the necessary cybersecurity protocols when working remotely, so try to avoid anything that could be potentially harmful to your workplace’s data.
In Summary
Exercising these behaviours in the workplace is more about using common sense than anything else, but it can be difficult to know where the boundaries are when it comes to modern technology. Try and uphold a professional attitude whenever possible and the answers about how you should use workplace technology should become clear.
Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.