Microsoft patent aims to curb your enthusiasm within the office

You can think working for tech royalty out west is all beanbags and 20 percent time . And it will probably well be. But when your paychecks say Microsoft, it is advisable watch out the way you spend that extra down-time. A patent with the snappy title Organizational Behavior Monitoring Analysis and Influence describes a system devised by the corporate to watch employee interactions. Everything from cutting people off in conversation, to the verbal phrases and mannerisms used over “multi-modal communications” (e-mail, phone and so forth) is roofed. The purpose of the Orwellian system is “defining desired and undesired behaviors for reinforcing organizational trust levels” and it isn’t the first time Microsoft has made such sinister sounding patent applications. OK, so there’s nothing saying exactly what this would be for, or if this might ever be used to observe its own employees. That said, in case your car parking zone isn’t there on Monday, you should backtrack during the previous week’s water-cooler diatribes.

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This post is tagged: organizational behavior, organizational trust, parking space, patent applications, time microsoft, verbal phrases