Private work related discussions

[Blitzkrieger]

A group of my colleagues have had their ability to discuss work related topics curtailed by their managers. The forum was via a private, invite only social media page. So the story goes management somehow got wind of the discussion and took offence to something someone said. The poster has been censured by the company for what were essentially benign but accurate comments.

It raised a few concerns for me but mainly one of privacy and the apparent attempt to de-organise the workforce such that there is no transfer of ideas or concepts.

Have any of you experienced this? I’m curious.

[43Inches]

Read your companies IT policy, they can only work with that. Each company is different, the privacy act leaves it up to the company basically if its work related discussions. The only thing they can not definitely interfere with is if it's a private conversation about private, non work related matter outside of work and the conversations occur outside of work hours.

[Angle of Attack]

You need a more anonymous and vetted only group on Slack or whatever that won’t be infiltrated by company moles, just start again and invite each person one at a time week by week, and if a leak occurs you will know the mole. Don’t give up you just stuffed the first one up. 😂

[awair]

If it's a third-party publicly run platform, however secret/anonymous/restricted, there is always a risk that it will be classed as 'social media'.

In some parts of the world, your union might successfully argue in court that it’s not. Do you want to go that far?

Run your own mailing list, preferably in a GDPR compliant country.
Add strict terms & conditions for access
Enforce copyright of all posted material.

Not a lawyer, but that may provide some legal defence against your words being misused, misquoted. And, unfortunately, it’s the Mitigate part of TEM. So, again, do you want to go that far…

Good luck.

[Icarus2001]

just start again and invite each person one at a time week by week, and if a leak occurs you will know the mole Sorry but your logic is flawed.

Better to allow known members join but they use a username only known by the board admin. Simples.

[rudestuff]

Unless the Admin is the Mole?

[First_Principal]

As I read it no-one seems to think those involved should just shut up. Fair enough, I'd probably be in that camp too, however I wonder if the "essentially benign but accurate comments" were maybe libellous in some way, or otherwise legally challengable? In that instance perhaps management was being reasonable by simple saying "cease and desist"...

That said, as we should all know, a secret shared is no longer a secret, and pretty much any form of written/electronic communication is a great way to ensure accurate delivery to anyone - not just those it's intended for.

[aussieflyboy]

Wouldn’t be too hard to identify the mole.

You could probably cross off like 80+ percent of your online groups members because you know they’re good solid people that wouldn’t stoop so low. Then simply delete/block the 20 percent potential suspects. Get a sacrificial lamb that is nearing retirement to post something that would get managements attention if it was shared and wait. If they don’t get a cranky phone call then you’re group is safe (for now).

What is really embarrassing is how petty your company’s management team is. Provided it wasn’t bagging out a staff member (bullying) then why would it matter if your group was privately bagging out the company or it’s policies? They would be better off spending their time focusing on getting the rostering correct or ensuring allowances are paid correctly or identifying ways the company could save money to ensure they’re around in the future.

[Lookleft]

Never ceases to amaze me that a lot of people think that anything on social media is private if it is considered to be so. Once its digital then its available. If you want to bag out the company then do it over a few beers at a bbq and don't allow any phones. There was quite an infamous incident at Jetstar where someone posted a comment on an invite only chat group, which most people thought was definitely not derogatory to a certain demographic, but which came to the attention of management. The poster was made to apologise.

[PoppaJo]

Then you have those who start testing Chief Pilot and HRs patience with all these Instagram look-at-me pages. I asked a FO once what he was doing with some photos and video I noticed him filming while I ducked out. They said for their ‘social pages’. Not only did they receive a fairly sharp comment from myself, I don’t really want to answer to management as to why photos/video under my oversight has been splashed across the public arena if investigated. It’s such a sensitive subject.

[Lookleft]

Couldn't agree more PJ.