I work closely with a colleague who is obsessed with social media and, more importantly, taking selfies. This means that every second we are out of the office for meetings is documented in a series of portraits around Dubai. Frankly, I don't want my grinning image plastered on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, particularly when I am in work mode. How should I let her know this without causing offence? HG, Dubai
I must say, HG, if I were in your shoes I would not bother too much about not causing offence. Just tell her to stop it. This is the behaviour of an adolescent, not of a professional individual. You tell me nothing of this social media butterfly except her gender, which I am sure is in no way significant – there will be as many male offenders as female, no doubt. But for me this is really very straightforward: the working day is for working. That is how it gets its name. Social time or downtime can be photographed, captured, catalogued and shared in any way an individual chooses. If that individual shares social time with others, and those others do not object, then of course they can all be plastered over every social media outlet available to us, and there is no harm done. But this is work.
Firstly, this individual is not alone. She is with you. She has, in my view, no right to ask or demand that your image is captured and tweeted, Facebooked, Instagrammed and otherwise distributed around the world. Your professionalism is at least undermined and risks being minimalised when these things appear, because it appears to at least some observers that you are not taking your working day seriously. Similar damage may be done to her reputation and to your company’s image.
Let us say you are tagged on one of these photos, and as a result you pop up on the page of a professional colleague who happens to be a client. He or she is a serious, professional person who thinks well of you and your organisation. Then you appear tagged in a photo taken in working hours, grinning like a fool, alongside your colleague, with some Dubai landmark in the background. It probably isn’t going to play too well.
Worse, imagine that the selfie was taken on your way to a meeting with this individual – one where you were charging your time as a consultant or as a service provider.
Or think of a photo in which you or she are pulling some silly face. Seconds later it is all over three different social media networks. How is your professional credibility looking around about now?
That is why I say do not be too concerned about causing offence. She is potentially recklessly endangering your professional reputation and that of your organisation. She is probably doing so unintentionally, but ignorance is not a valid defence in my book. Tell her, do not ask her, to stop it. Explain why it is a silly and potentially harmful thing to do, and tell her it is an activity you can’t endorse or support. Let her know that using social media to develop the organisation’s image and communicate the organisation’s messages is fine, but using social media for personal reasons during office hours is really not good practice.
As always, what we need here are some sensible guidelines that people understand and accept because they see that the guidelines are there for a reason. None of us likes to be restricted, and we like it even less when the reasons for the restriction are obscure or in our view weak or inappropriate. But social media is now so all-pervasive that, in my view, every organisation needs a social media policy, if only to address situations such as the one you describe.
Doctor’s prescription:
If your company does not have such a policy, either write one or suggest to the appropriate person that one gets written. Keep it simple, clear and as non-directive as possible: leave things to the better judgment of the employees. Of course, you might immediately cite your colleague and ask: “What better judgment?” but of course if a policy was in place, you could exercise judgment and restraint – she wouldn’t be required to do so … which, from the evidence you offer in your question, may be just as well.
Roger Delves is the director of the Ashridge Executive Masters in Management and an adjunct professor at the Hult International Business School. He is the co-author of The Top 50 Management Dilemmas: Fast Solutions to Everyday Challenges. Email him at business@thenational.ae for advice on any work issues
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
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The years Ramadan fell in May
Long Shot
Director: Jonathan Levine
Starring: Charlize Theron, Seth Rogan
Four stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft Toronto
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Windows
Release Date: April 10
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
ZIMBABWE V UAE, ODI SERIES
All matches at the Harare Sports Club:
1st ODI, Wednesday - Zimbabwe won by 7 wickets
2nd ODI, Friday, April 12
3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14
4th ODI, Tuesday, April 16
UAE squad: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
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Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
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Favourite films: Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia
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Stree
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
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Drishyam 2
Directed by: Jeethu Joseph
Starring: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba, Murali Gopy
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'The Predator'
Dir: Shane Black
Starring: Olivia Munn, Boyd Holbrook, Keegan-Michael Key
Two and a half stars
The specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: nine-speed
Power: 542bhp
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Price: Dh848,000
On sale: now
