IT availability – discussion and suggested guidelines
Discuss IT availability at your workplace. In order to have a good working environment, it is important to differentiate between leisure time and working hours. Start with how to achieve a good work environment with regard to IT stress and what rules should apply for staff to be able to work in a good way. The same rules/guidelines should apply to the entire organisation/authority.
Topics to discuss:
- When are we expected to respond to emails?
Example: Replies to emails are only expected on weekdays between 8.00 and 17.00. - Do we want to specify times when we should avoid sending emails?
Example: Emails should not normally be sent between 17.00 and 8.00 - What rules apply at weekends?
Example: No one is expected to read or respond to emails in their free time. - What applies when on leave, e.g. holidays, sick leave, parental leave?
- Should the same rules be applied to external and internal emails?
- Use of draft/send later functions to delay sending emails.
- Accepted response times for emails - based on what is required by law.
- Accepted response times for internal emails.
- Accepted response time for external emails.
- When and how should we use the autoreply function?
- How should the rules be communicated to others, e.g. students?