Why Block Websites in the Workplace?

The internet and everything that it provides has become a very necessary tool in many businesses around the world. Often, employees need access to the internet in order to carry out their daily tasks, increase their efficiency, and research relevant topics. However, in a lot of workplaces giving employees unlimited access is currently a point of discussion.

Businesses often worry about employees spending too much time on social media and online shopping whilst at work, thus, affecting their productivity and costing the business money. With Internet access so readily available, it can also put a strain on corporate bandwidth usage and potentially increase a business’s risk for malware attacks on their networks.

So how should businesses deal with this dilemma? We’re going to look into the top questions that often come up surrounding this topic and provide relevant insight into what can be done to maximize employee productivity yet still give employees the ability to work in a nice environment.

What websites should be blocked in the workplace?

There are millions of websites that employees can often get distracted by. Everything from social media to eCommerce sites can take their attention away from work and things they need to get done and sometimes without even realizing it, they’ve wasted hours surfing the web on things that should take up their free time.

According to an article by CNBC people typically spend one hour of their workday on social media, with millennials spending 1.8 hours on such sites. Additionally, website traffic usually peaks between 14:00-18:00 – again, during working hours and at the expense of the employer.

In order to reduce wandering minds in the workplace, CNBC recommends blocking sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Reddit, and eBay to name a few. Whilst it won’t make the boss popular, it will stop productivity from plummeting and potentially make the business overall much more efficient.

Does blocking websites increase productivity?

Blocking websites has a positive impact on employee productivity – this is something that has been proven time and time again. When a business block websites to ‘time-wasting’ websites, employees inevitably spend much less time browsing sites that are unrelated to their jobs.

As the survey below shows from ZDNet there is a big difference in the amount of time employees spend on non work related websites per week depending on the business’ restriction policies.

However, with this in mind, often employees push back on the idea, insisting that these sites offer a source of enjoyment and can be beneficial to morale. Additionally, many managers and employees are fully aware that, even if you block a site, that doesn’t mean a worker won’t turn to their personal smartphone to access the websites anyway.

Should companies restrict Internet access?

Restricting Internet access can create a repressive work environment, damaging employee confidence and morale. Instead, we believe that a more flexible approach could be considered.

A popular solution to this dilemma is to allow Internet access but block inappropriate sites and block websites on Chrome. This can be a daunting task, however, with BlockSite websites can be blocked on both desktop and mobile and this makes sure that employees stay focused and productive whilst in the workplace.

The question of how to block websites becomes really easy with BlockSite and in just a couple of clicks, you can have a whole list of blocked websites that would usually distract you from your work.

Employers can also set up the sites they want employees to be redirected to, making sure their internet usage is productive and effective. For example, they can block social media sites, adult content sites, gambling websites and any sites that may be harmful and dangerous.

What’s more, there’s the option to make BlockSite password protected meaning that settings are locked with a password and you’ll get an email when someone tries to uninstall BlockSite.

So if you’re looking to improve productivity in the workplace and keep employees focused, download BlockSite today!