Your team members are concerned that differeni$[$department managers might not implement "common sense" standards consistently across the company. Relying on email is creating confusion among employees, as some managers interpret the policies differently. In the end, the team decides to at least type up a list of suggested guidelines so the managers have something to work from.

Malik also believes employees are wasting time taking breaks that last longer than what is allowed, stopping at coworkers' desks to chat, and playing on their smartphones when they're sitting at their own desks.

At a recent industry conference, Malik heard about another company that requires employees to run Skype on their computers at all times so managers can visually check in with employees and monitor communications and work habits such as tardiness or time away from their desks. After some initial questions about the legality of this kind of monitoring, some of the companys officers are concerned about how this will affect employee morale and suggest it might be more effective to offer employees more predictable breaks and perhaps small incentives for higher levels of productivity each month.