2oceansvibe News | South African and international news

Sponsored by RSAWeb rss
2ov Radio
  • Home
  • About
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Seth Rotherham
  • du Cap Collection
  • Café du Cap
  • Cabine du Cap
  • Media Packs / Advertising
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Anonymous Tips
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
Seth Rotherham
  • You Better Hope Your Boss Isn’t Using Microsoft’s Controversial ‘Productivity Score’ Tool

    03 Dec 2020 by Carrie in Communication, ICT, Lifestyle, Tech/Sci
    Related Posts
    • Friday Morning Spice
    • You Might As Well Check Out Bing's New AI Image Generator - It's Free And Fun
    • 25 Injured As Wind Topples Microsoft Billionaire's Boat
    • Student Digs - Inside Microsoft Heiress's R990 Million Apartment
    • Father Of The Internet Sounds Alarm Over AI Chatbots

    [imagesource:here]

    At the start of the pandemic, many of us who worked primarily online heeded the call to stay home and started working remotely, even before the hard lockdown went into effect.

    The model worked so well that a number of companies elected to keep it that way even when restrictions were eased and we could head on back to the office.

    To manage remote working employees, managers and bosses have started using technology to track progress.

    A while back, The New York Times‘ Adam Satariano tried out employee-monitoring software, Hubstaff.

    Hubstaff can track which websites you’re using, and even measure productivity by mapping how often you type or use your computer mouse. The long and short of it is that when the results came in, Satariano felt a touch violated.

    This brings us to Microsoft, which also decided to throw its hat into the productivity monitoring game with the Productivity Score function on Microsoft 365.

    According to Engadget, the tool supposedly helps companies understand how workers adopt and use technology, and provides scores out of 100 on several factors, including communications and teamwork.

    It also allows them to snoop on employees, because some of the functions are linked to usernames.

    The tool could show how many days within a 28-day period that workers (who were identified by name) sent email, used chat, posted in Yammer or included @mentions in emails. This data was visible by default, though those insights could be turned off.

    Watch this video. It will explain how things work in more detail:

    As I’m sure you can imagine, people weren’t too pleased about this, and Microsoft was hit with accusations of privacy violations.

    Think about your micromanaging boss, who when you were still in the office made it his primary objective to check in on you every 30 seconds to make sure that you were still working.

    Now imagine that same guy with his hands on this type of technology.

    Not ideal.

    In response to the backlash, Microsoft says it will remove usernames from Productivity Score. Instead, the “communications, meetings, content collaboration, teamwork, and mobility measures in Productivity Score will only aggregate data at the organization level,” Microsoft 365 corporate vice president Jared Spataro wrote in a blog post.

    If Microsoft does it, says Spataro, the company won’t be able to “use Productivity Score to access data about how an individual user is using apps and services in Microsoft 365”.

    The tool allegedly wasn’t designed to monitor an individual’s work productivity, but gaps in the system have allowed employers to take advantage of it to do just that.

    Instead, it’s supposed to centre on the adoption of tech within an organisation.

    I’ll be sticking to my Apple Mac, thanks.

    [source:engadget]

    • ← Thursday Morning Spice
    • ‘Concrete Evidence’ Against Maddie McCann Prime Suspect →
    • Tweet
    • Tags:
    • microsoft
    • Microsoft productivity tool
    • Productivity score function
    • productivity score tool
    • remote working
    • working from home
    • working online

    Latest News

    • Hilariously Obvious Video Of Self-Proclaimed Prophet ‘Walking On Air’ Is Making The Rounds Amidst Extradition Case

      [imagesource:youtube/news24] Never forget that the self-styled prophet who is facing ch...

    • The Phantom Of Heilbron – A Serial Killer Who Never Existed Was Hunted For Sixteen Years

      [imagesource:publicdomainpics] In 1993, a 62-year-old woman was found dead in her house...

    • This Year’s South African Car Of The Year Is A Real Local Classic

      [imagesource:twitter/@nbrenwin] The winner of the 2023 South African Car of the Year is...

    • You’ll Need To Get On Top Of These New Laws ASAP If You Employ A Domestic Worker

      [imagesource:here] New laws for domestic workers in South Africa were introduced in Apr...

    • Langa Residents Turn Dumpsites Into Thriving Veggie Gardens

      [imagesource:groundup/tarirowashinyira] Residents of the infamous N2 Gateway Social Hou...


    • 2oceansvibe Partners

    • CONTACT US
    • GOT A HOT STORY?
    • 2oceansvibe Radio
    • 2oceansvibe Media
    • Media Pack
    • Seth Rotherham
    • Café du Cap
    • Cabine du Cap
    • Cape Town City Accommodation
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Business
    • Media
    • Entertainment
    • Tech/Sci
    • World
    • Travel
    • Lifestyle
    • Sport
    • Politics
  • Follow

    2oceansvibe.com is part of the 2oceansVibe Media Group

    DMMA Logo