A new study from no less than the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and powerhouse IBM finds that workers who maintain online connections to their bosses produce more than those who don’t.

The surprise finding: Not only were people who frequently communicated online with their manager more productive, but those who avoided their managers online were much less productive.

The researchers (two of them from MIT’s Sloan School of Management) analyzed a wide range of electronic communication channels, including e-mail, buddy lists and social networking activity of 2,600 workers over 12 months to come up with their conclusions.

Employees who maintained constant electronic communications averaged an increase in revenue of $588 per month over the average; the luddites who didn’t produced $98 per month less than the average.

The researchers concluded that the under-performers probably felt pulled in too many directions with no clear leadership or direction.

As the modern workforce becomes more geographically dispersed it’s become a challenge for workers and managers to stay connected and know each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

Using electronic tools to forge stronger bonds and communicate tasks, objectives and feedback seems to be a key way for companies to keep everyone connected and productive.

To read the details of the MIT/IBM study, visit here.

Most obvious are the cost savings that come with cutting energy use. But according to a recent survey, upper management is also seeing positive effects in other areas — for example, 47% of execs believe going green can help their companies attract and retain employees, according to a recent survey by Buck Consultants.

Also, 12% of HR pros say green initiatives at their companies have increased employee productivity, according to a 2009 Society of Human Resource Management study. That’s up from 6% last year.

More than 60% of companies have adopted the goal of reducing environmental impact, according to the Buck Consultants survey. The most popular changes companies have made:

• 78% have used teleconferencing to cut back on business travel
• 77% have put HR and benefits documents online, rather than printing them
• 76% promote a reduction in paper use
• 68% have implemented wellness programs
• 57% offer telecommuting opportunities, and
• 52% help employees find carpool partners.

Employees who frequently talk face-to-face are more productive than those who rely on e-mail, phone calls, Facebook and other electronic means, according to a recent report by researchers at MIT and New York University.

Participants in the study were equipped with devices called “sociometers,” small badges that track wearers’ movements, record their voices and detect when they’re standing near someone else wearing the device. In other words, they measured how often the employees interacted with each other in person.

The result: Employees who had face-to-face conversations throughout the day were more productive.

A similar study by the same research team was released in December, with the same results: Employees at an IT company who had regular in-person meetings were 30% more productive than those who didn’t.

The reasons are two-fold, researchers say. First, talking face-to-face helps groups solve problems faster than when they try to brainstorm other ways.

Second, face-to-face support networks increase general morale and job satisfaction, which are key to maintaining productivity.

The lesson for managers: Though technology has made it possible for employees to work together without ever seeing each other, it’s good to encourage in-person collaboration.

That’s the conclusion of one recent Australian study, anyway.

More than 70% of employees with Internet access spend some amount of the day on non-work activities, according to the research by the University of Melbourne. And those who waste time in moderation (for less than 20% of their total time in the office) are on average 9% more productive than those who use their computers for nothing but work.

Why is that? Because employees function better when they take short, frequent breaks, say the researchers who conducted the study. They often lose concentration and need to zone out for a few minutes to get it back.

Another possible factor: The most productive employees are the ones who have the time to surf the Internet.

Does this mean managers should let their employees waste all the time they want? Hardly, though many companies may be putting too much effort into enforcing a ban on personal computer use. Most experts recommend avoiding outright bans and instead addressing individual issues as specific performance problems.

Starting today, NCAA college basketball tournament games will be available for free online.

That’s right, in addition keeping tabs on their entries in the office pool, employees will now have the option of seeing the games live over your company’s computer network. That’s 63 games, many of which will take place during the work day.

Translation: a big drain on bandwidth, and a big new distraction.

What should HR do about it? That depends on who you ask.

Some experts recommend not worrying about it and just focusing on performance problems individually. Others say companies should take action and remind employees not to use the Web for personal activity — the bandwidth required to watch video could make it harder for others to get their work done.

What do you think? Does your company need a policy on streaming live sporting events at work? Do you plan on doing anything if March Madness becomes too big a distraction in your workplace?

Let us know in the comments section below.

Obviously, a lot depends on the type of work being done. Some jobs are safety-intensive, and workers shouldn’t block out external noises they need to hear.

But many managers in all types of departments ban the use of iPods and other music devices. They claim music is a distraction that threatens productivity and collaboration.

On the other hand, a lot of employees, especially those in their twenties, claim headphones isolate them from other noises, helping them concentrate. Also, some workplace psychologists say music makes workers more productive by reducing stress levels  and increasing over-all job satisfaction.

What’s your company’s policy on music at work? How do individual managers feel about employees’ mp3 players? What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below.

It’s no secret: Give employees a computer, and they’ll always spend some time on non-work activities. But how can managers keep productivity problems from getting out of hand?

Some experts warn against using strict computer use policies, monitoring and Web site blocking  across the board — if employees feel like the boss is watching their every move, morale might drop and productivity could actually suffer.

Instead, many say managers’ time is better spent dealing with individual performance problems as they happen and helping those employees get back on track.

When managers do have an easily distracted employee, there is plenty of free or low-cost software available to keep the temptation to procrastinate in check and teach some self-discipline.

Here are some of the best free tools available, recommended by CNET columnist Josh Lowensohn:

• E-mail Discipline — An add-on for the Firefox browser that makes a user earn the right to goof off at work. It blocks a list of Web sites, including Facebook, YouTube and personal e-mail services, allowing access for only a short period every two hours — making the sure the user gets some work done before taking a break to visit those sites.
• MeeTimer — Another Firefox add-on, MeeTimer keeps track of how much time a user spends on different categories of sites throughout the day. Employees can see what percentage of the day they spend on work-related browsing, personal e-mail, social networking, etc. — and may change their bad habits once the data’s spelled out for them.
• RescueTime — Similar to MeeTimer, RescueTime measures how much of the day employees spend on different sites and computer programs. There’s a free individual version available, as well as a subscription-based business version that lets managers view the total data for an entire team.
• HassleMe — This service sends free e-mail reminders to users about important tasks they need to complete. It’s perfect for little things that need to be done every day or every week, but are easily forgotten amongst everything else employees have to do.

In a tough economy, companies need ways to retain employees when salary budgets are tight. Here’s one strategy that might work for the under-30 set.

One thing young employees want: freedom to use technology how they want while they’re at work.

In fact, 20% of workers age 18-29 say they’d take a lower salary in exchange for more relaxed IT policies, according to a recent IT World survey.

Some things that matter to those employees:

• access to social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter
• the ability to work with personal devices of their choosing, such as Blackberries, iPhones and their own laptops, and
• freedom to use the Internet for personal business.

Developing smart policies

What it means for HR: Adapting technology policies to fit the needs and wants of the company’s employees could turn out to be a valuable recruiting and retention tool, especially as more tech-savvy youngsters enter the workforce.

Also, some experts say employees are productive when they’re free to work with the devices they want.

Of course, that doesn’t mean HR departments should suddenly do away with their tech rules. When creating or modifying policies, it’s important to take input from:

• IT – The main reason these policies are in place is to keep the company’s network safe and running smoothly. IT knows what’s possible and what will cause problems.
• Managers – Have there been productivity problems because of workers’ personal technology use? Policies can be made more or less strict depending on how big of an issue that’s been.
• Employees – If workers want a change in policy, it’s important to know why. They may have legitimate, work-related reasons for wanting more freedom, or they might not.

1. Productivity drops and doesn’t go back up. There may be a transition period where telecommuters learn to be as productive at home as they were in the office. But if it lasts more than a few weeks, the arrangement is probably not the best fit.
2. They don’t answer messages. One caveat of letting employees work from home is often that they’re required to be available at all times during the work day to answer phone calls, IMs and e-mails. If the employee frequently won’t respond — and doesn’t have a good excuse — that’s a bad sign.
3. They respond, but it just doesn’t sound right. Crafty home-based slackers have started using computer programs (like this one) to hide the fact that they’re away from their desks. These applications let users create general, automatic responses to e-mails that come through their in-boxes.
4. Initiative goes out the window. It’s common for ambitious employees to become complacent once they’re no longer in the office all day. But home-based workers should still be expected to willingly take on new responsibilities and do more than just the bare minimum.

It’s called RescueTime, and it’s a program that’s installed on a computer to measure exactly how much time a user spends running different programs and visiting different Web sites.

There’s a free individual version available, as well as a subscription-based business version that lets managers view the total data for an entire team.

Find out more at www.rescuetime.com.