I have always been a propoent of not letting your mobile device control your life. My phone only rings once, then goes to mute. It does not vibrate and it does not tell me when I have a text or email. I have to pull it out of my pocket and look to see that I received 17 emails in the last 40 minutes or a text a few hours ago. I see too many people letting it control their lives.
It is worse when it interrupts the lives of others. In my humble opinion, it is rude and unprofessional to have your cell phone on and/or use it during a meeting. I don’t care if it is coffee with a client, a drink with a friend, or a team or client meeting. It is rude and wrong! Put it away. If you cannot concentrate on our conversation (be it one-on-one or a meeting with several people), excuse yourself and leave. You are not part of the discussion and you are distracting me and others! (I truly understand that, if there is an emergency such as like a sick relative or a child with issues at school, etc., then yes, let others in your meeting know you have an emergency at hand and will be watching your cell phone… and apologize.)
To sit in a meeting and keep looking at your phone (that you laid down on our table at Starbucks as we discussed strategy on your activation), and watching it light up to tell you how many “important” messages you are missing while chatting with me, is counter productive. Twice in the last six months, I have excused myself from a one-on-one meeting because of these situations. If I am affording you my time (paid or pro bono) and you don’t want to focus on the topic at hand, then let’s reschedule when you are not so pre-occupied.
It is just as bad in a large meeting when you sit at the board room table looking down at your phone, scrolling through messages (or for all I know, playing Subway Surfer) and it annoys others in the room. Recent research from USC’s Marshall School of Business cleary shows this to be true. In fact, here are some of the statistics:
- 86% think it’s inappropriate to answer phone calls during meetings.
- 84% think it’s inappropriate to write texts or emails during meetings.
- 66% think it’s inappropriate to write texts or emails, even during lunches off-site.
- The more money people make the less they approve of smartphone use.
It is a generation thing too. The study also showed that millennials are three times more likely than those over 40 to think that smartphone use during meetings is okay. Gosh, when I was younger, I thought there was so much I could learn from the older folks (40+) on the team. But if I am not paying attention, how will I learn?
Do you have your cell phone out at meetings or even use it during meetings? Do you think it is rude and unprofessional-or just fine? Let me know.
I agree 100%. It is rude in any social setting. I’m a millenial and have watched some of my much older colleagues do this as much as (or sometimes more than) my younger colleagues. They’re telling everyone in the room that the person or people on the other end of their phone are far more important. With the exception of maybe doctors on-call, few people are so important that they can’t put their phone away for the duration of a one hour meeting.
Brent you are right on as usual. I think it is plain rude and something that we have to all come to terms with. The suggestion of not bringing a smartphone into a meeting at all is the best. Less temptation.Less distraction. More thought and reflection and better ideas.
Brent, I have to agree with you about using the phone or email during meetings of any type – unless it has been said up front that a very important call is coming. I think this can politely be accommodated.
However, I have discovered the wonder of paperless-ness through the ‘smart’ phone, and am conflicted. If I use the phone to view the agenda or read the documents provided, am I being rude? I won’t have an Ipad, so while it may appear I am checking messages (or playing Subway Surfer), I am really looking at the matter under discussion.
I have also discovered the phone is a wonder tool in church as I can easily go from one Bible passage to another & back again as the sermon is given. But I wonder how many people think I am texting or something else!
Cheers,
Roy
Hi Brent,
I agree and I disagree… If I have requested a meeting and I am wanting to have a discussion with someone, the phone and iPad stay put away. However, as someone who has a paperless office style, I use my phone/iPad to book meetings and take notes so therefore I am using my phone/iPad for that purpose. It is important to let the person you are meeting know that you are taking notes, just as you would on paper. I also keep my iPad on the table so that they can also see that I am simply taking notes. A big part of my job in public engagement is also social media so often I will include my meeting person in an opportunity to post on Twitter, which I do AFTER the meeting, but take the photo together during. This all being said, if I am in a strictly talking/listening meeting, the phone stays away. They are a great tool and can be used to bring a lot of good, just remember respect and it all works out. Knowing when to have it working for you and when to have it away. The person in front of me, always takes precedent. Just my thoughts on this snowy Tuesday.. 🙂
I agree, when it is a meeting in a board room and or social gathering the phone should stay put in your purse on vibrate or on your desk back in your office. It is extremely frustrating to try and talk to someone who obviously has more important things to do like check their cell phone. If it’s important the person calling will leave a message. I only take my phone if I will need to look at my calendar to schedule another meeting or date. I also agree with the use of tablets for note taking if it is explained and on the table.
Hi
Agree 100%! I find it especially rude when senior supervisors call a One to One weekly meeting to discuss an upcoming project and they cannot give you 5 minutes of their attention due to checking phone for emails and/or taking the time to answer the incoming email while you try to discuss status updates. Makes the situation so uncomfortable.
How have you dealt with this with positive results?
I definitely agree with you and also agree with Amanda N’s comment about it not necessarily being just the young people that are showing this disrespect.
It’s just plain rude to use your phone in a face to face meeting or in a group meeting/discussion! We ban them at staff meetings.
Thanks Amanada! It truly sends the wrong message and as several others noted, it is not just the millennials! Brent
Kathy, great idea. As Dave notes below, they ban smart phones from all staff meetings.
Roy, I agree there are exceptions like a sick child or other important reasons to have your phone on and watching it in a meeting. Also if you (and a few others noted it in their comments) are paperless, then having a smartphone or tablet in a meeting and active on it is just fine. In both these cases I feel these are acceptable BUT you must first let everyone in the meeting know right at the beginning of the meeting. Then all is good. You take the integrity of the person at face value!
Laura.. terrific. I love that approach!
Thanks Rowena. I concur. In a meeting at Starbucks the other day I asked the person I was meeting if it was OK if I pulled out my phone to mark in our next meeting. He said yes and I proceeded. It is all part of the etiquette!
Tracey, tough for me on this one… I am at the top of the team. (Hopefully I don’t do what you have experienced.) I have said to clients through things like “would it be better to reschedule this meeting? I can see you are expecting a pretty important call or email the way you are checking your phone”. Typically it gets them to apologize (which I really don’t care about) but more importantly I get their undivided attention for the time I am there. I have never actually had the response “yes you are right we should reschedule”!
Also sharing this blog to your whole team… supervisors included with something like “I know I need to work on this…”
Well done, we all need to be reminded of this. Simply common courtesy, something that is often forgotten these days. Great to meet you today at AFP.
Dennis, thanks for the kind words and it was great to meet you today as well. And thanks for the promotion of Reality Check and for reading each week the Tuesday Morning Commentary. All the best, see you tomorrow at the AFP Toronto Congress.