At the end of last year, Microsoft announced it would be adding increased employee surveillance to Microsoft Edge.
The changes mean admins can access compliance monitoring through the browser, such as seeing which files have been printed or copied to USB devices.
Machine learning is being used to increase this visibility of what’s happening to sensitive files. But how will this impact employees? Will they feel that their privacy is being invaded? Will it cause trust issues? And do you think this is an appropriate level of monitoring when people have proved that remote work can be just as productive – if not more – than working from the office?
Our advice would be not to buy into this increased employee surveillance, unless you want to damage the delicate trust you’ve no doubt worked hard to build with your team.
There are other, more open ways to help your people get their work done. For example, there are plenty of tools that help limit distractions like notifications or temporarily block apps and websites to allow better focus. Your employees can choose to activate these to aid their productivity when they need a boost.
You’ll find some within your Microsoft 365 subscription – that means more tools at no extra cost.
If you want some suggestions personalized to your business, give us a call.
