Instant Messaging Rules: A Business Guide to Managing Policies, Security, and Legal Issues for Safe IM Communication

Use Your Organization’s Instant Messaging Rules and Policies as the Foundation for Training

To be an effective part of your IM risk management program, continuing education should work in concert with your written IM rules and policies. The best training is ongoing and comprehensive. Depending upon your organization’s risks, rules, resources, regulations, and policies, employee training might address:

• IM risks and liabilities facing the industry, organization, and individual employees.

• IM content and etiquette: what type of language, content, and online activity is—and is not—acceptable and appropriate.

• IM ownership and privacy: what are your organization’s responsibilities and your employees’ rights?

• IM business records: what instant messages must be retained, why, when, how, and by whom?

• IM retention and deletion strategy: understanding the organization’s rules and the individual employee’s role in the retention of business records and the deletion of insignificant messages.

• Industry and governmental regulations: toeing the line, adhering to content and retention guidelines, and staying in business.

• IM as legal evidence: understanding discovery, spoliation, and destruction prohibitions.

• Security breaches and cybertheft: keeping confidential information safe and secure, whether public networks or private systems are used.

Does that sound like a lot of material? The topics to address in a continuing education program are as comprehensive as the risks you face every time an employee accesses your IM system or downloads a consumer-grade IM client. ^[4]

^[4]Ibid.