Work and productivity blog Slacker Manager has brought an interesting dilemma to my attention (via Ask a Manager): An employee is an active blogger, and has recently posted a gripe about her workload on her blog. This employee has shared her blog with her boss in the past, who reads it on a regular basis, and this particular post is no exception. Should the manager talk to his employee and mention he read it, or is it a breach of privacy?
This is a situation that we’re bound to hear more and more of, and while I think it’s great to keep a blog about your career, the burden rests on the employee to only post what she wants her co-workers and bosses to read. If this employee in question was really frustrated or overwhelmed with her workload, then there’s nothing stopping her from letting her manager know her feelings. To post about it instead seems more passive-aggressive than anything else.
There is also nothing private about blogs, especially when you make your co-workers aware of them. In this case it’s perfectly acceptable for the boss to take the employee aside and address what he read, with the assurance that he would rather hear it directly from the employee in the future rather than reading it online.
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