Perhaps you’ve decided the simple data collection applications to monitor employee activities I mentioned in my last column aren’t sufficient. You want to take the next step.

What might that step be? Implementing the dreaded bossware.

What is bossware? The term means different things to different people, but essentially it’s software enabling managers to track keystrokes and mouse clicks as well as capture screenshots of monitors to see what employees are doing. The prevalence of intrusive, detail-oriented monitoring software has increased during the extended period of remote working.

Why bossware? Many managers —especially those unsure of themselves and their employees — seem to subscribe to a theory: “If I can’t see you, you can’t possibly be working.” Bossware provides them a means to quantitatively assess the level of activity of their employees.

What might be some the negative aspects of bossware?

Increased employee stress and absenteeism — along with an associated reduction in productivity.

Attempts by employees to get around the monitoring, perhaps by using a mouse jiggler to create movement and apparent activity — at least while they run to the restroom or grab a cup of coffee.

Feelings of invasion of privacy.

A sense managers and the company doesn’t trust employees.

Some of the more common bossware software includes products from Teramind, ActivTrak and Hubstaff. These products offer features that can include tracking applications used by employees, noting the websites they visit, taking screenshots of their activities and monitoring keystrokes and mouse clicks.

It’s tempting to monitor the keystrokes of employees, especially those who aren’t in the office. But consider the way remote workers tend to do things. They might work on weekends, late into evenings or early in mornings, using the same computer for work and personal activities. How are you going to distinguish between the two types of uses?

If they’re using a computer provided by the company, they could occasionally break off work activities to handle some personal items — just as they almost certainly did when they were in the office. How are you going to decide when the employee is working and not working?

This isn’t to say this intrusive level of monitoring is all bad. There are certainly some remote workers who abuse the system. Keystroke, website or other monitoring could help identify and correct the situation.

If you’re going to use a simple monitoring system such as Zoom or Slack, you probably want to let your employees know.
If you’re going to use a more intrusive data collection tool, definitely be transparent and tell your employees. Trust is essential to a good working relationship and an acceptable level of productivity. Monitoring could erode or even wipe out this trust.

When does monitoring make sense? When there are security issues and you need to protect data, documents and activities. More on that next time.