Smartphones in meetings
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Anonymous
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In my department, every single person has a device glued to their hand during a meeting or face up on the table. I think nothing of answering emails during a meeting and neither would my boss. He would also take a call if need be. Now we are department that deals with IT so that probably makes a difference.
In general in our org, it's not considered rude to look at a device during a meeting - even if a senior level person is speaking and often the end of a meeting is signaled when the majority have all picked up their devices and started actively reading emails and responding. |
Anonymous
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Electronic devices in meetings should only be used for meeting-related purposes. Looking up data, emails or relevant information is a perfectly legitimate use. However, checking email, or whatever is rude and should not be done.
For the woman who needs to be the "first line of defense for your children", time for a reality check. Set your phone to vibrate or even ring when you get a text or a call and put it in your pocket. If/when the phone rings, excuse yourself and step out into the hall to answer the call. If you get a text, you can glance quickly to see if it's truly an emergency and if not, put it back into your pocket. Many of us have more than one child and can still make it through meetings without needing to be so ostentatiously "on call". Putting your phone out on the table and checking it regularly because of your children is just offensive and rude. You may justify it, but you are not the first working parent who needs to be available for their children. Your situation is one of millions and you're making it into a life or death emergency. And believe me, your co-workers know this about you and it doesn't make a good impression on them. For the woman who is in 70% meetings for her work-day, you need to set aside time for addressing emails that is not in a work setting. If you have to, put an hour on the calendar every day when you take care of such business. If someone must schedule you for a meeting that can't be at another time, then move the hour of office-time to another slot. Taking care of email during a meeting, especially when you are a significant contributer is just rude and poor time management. Believe me, I understand. I am one of two people on a helpdesk and I get hundreds of messages a day many of which I have to address quickly. And yet, I can still be off of email for an hour for a meeting. They'll wait. And I'll get back to them when the meeting is over. |
Anonymous
| And for the lawyers, I hope you aren't checking your phones during meetings with clients unless it is a life or death emergency. I can't tell you how many in-house counsel I have heard complain about the outside counsel they hire who do this. |
Anonymous
Most of my coworkers don't have small kids. I don't make assumptions that people that I meet from outside my office do or do not have kids. I put my phone on the table because most of my work clothes don't have pockets and because, frankly, then it's out-in-the-open and people aren't wondering if I'm holding it my lap and using it (which I see people doing all the time and think is rude). I mention that it's there for an emergency to be clear that I don't intend to use it during the meeting (because, odds are quite good that I will not have an emergency in the next hour). Just to clarify - I am not "on my phone" during meetings. I simply have it handy. I can only recall one time when I answered a call when I was in a meeting (left the room to do so), and that's when my dad was in the middle of heart surgery. |
Anonymous
| I use my blackberry during meetings, as do many of my colleagues. It is not rude; it enhances productivity. |
Anonymous
| When I use my smartphone during meetings they are generally a seminar type meeting where I am not participating. I do not use my phone in a small group meeting with my team. |
Anonymous
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read the room. watch what the most senior people are doing. sometimes it's ok. that said - as a mom of a toddler in daycare with an unreachable husband - no one cares. have it in your pocket, next to you on the chair - it's unprofessional to say you need it in case there's an emergency (how often do you have emergencies, anyway?)
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Anonymous
Studies say otherwise. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112334449 |
Anonymous
Really? I'm your colleague whose point you missed while you were reading and responding to email. I don't find that productive. |
Anonymous
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I also think its rude and entirely counterproductive. If you don't need to be listening or participating, you shouldn't be in the meeting. I always judge the smart phone/bbers as inefficient.
Rudeness aside, it may well be the norm where you are, as it is at my organization. In that case you ignore the colleague and be part of the crowd. |
Anonymous
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OP here. Thanks for the perspective. As I mentioned in my original post, in that particular instance, I used my phone to pull up data for that meeting and it was quite obvious when I was referencing it. Funny enough, it was a meeting to discuss our social media strategy, so I really was adding value by pulling up our Twitter site to refer to some stuff. But I do check my phone at other times, so I'll remember that people have other views on that.
As for reading the room, I'm almost always the most senior person in the room. So yes, they should be following my lead, but I'll also be more mindful of my influence and possible reactions. Only a few are above me and we all have phones and tablets with us all the time. Heck, the company paid for most of them (except mine!). It's the norm for senior staff. And whomever suggested I get someone else to attend or just show up for the last 15 minutes, these are genius suggestions. It really is that I'm expected to be away from my computer for the majority of my day, as we are a highly-dysfunctional, inefficient organization; yet I am also expected to be immediately responsive to situations (I oversee an internal service department--there are a lot of fires to be put out). I don't like it, but that is what is expected in my role. I think I read and respond to the majority of my emails on my walks back and forth to the restroom. Also--I'm a mom. But I would never justify/excuse my phone usage by saying I have mom duties. Even I know better than that! |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
OK, now this is utterly ridiculous. 1. Secretaries are few and far between (and they're now called "administrative assistants") 2. Just because that was how it was done "back in the day" doesn't mean we must continue to do things that way. There is a benefit to technology and it's the norm that people call cell phones now. |
Anonymous
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Lol. Can we put this to bed now?
Smartphones in meetings are (a) increasingly common (b) generally rude, except in circumstances where it's expected/everyone is doing it (c) the person who tried to be responsible/forthcoming about it did not express herself very well and is now deemed rude/self-centered/ridiculous/crazy (that's me, by the way!) |
Anonymous
| Meetings are really the problem. Most of them are a pointless waste of time, which is why people bring toys to play with. |