Mind your mobile manners
I'm sure your manners are fine—so, it's ok by me if you copy this article and leave it on somebody's desk. (Or if this hits really close to home, on somebody's pillow.)
Minding your mobile manners isn't just about cell phone etiquette, but also about respectful business practices. How you act when you're using your device reflects on you and your company.
Here are some manners to consider when using your mobile device.
Cell phone etiquette
- Keep it down. Your voice and your ringer need to be at the lowest possible setting. In a public space, set your device on vibrate and put it in your pocket or belt carrier. With the noise and excitement of a ball game or the opera, you're more likely to feel your phone than hear it anyway.
- Take it outside. Just because the phone rings or alerts you when you are with family, friends, or business associates doesn't mean you have to have to carry on a conversation there. Nobody wants to hear your half of a conversation. You, as well as your device, are mobile.
- Turn it off. Unless your job or your family needs you to be on call, you'll probably be fine without your mobile device for a short while—at least long enough to have breakfast at home or dinner out. Let the voicemail program earn its keep.
Email and text messaging manners
- Be a Ninja. It bothers everyone when your device rings in the middle of a speech or movie. Perhaps even worse, however, is the person who has their device on vibrate, but yet leaps like they're sitting on fire ants and stumbles into the lobby when it goes off. Instead, when your silent mode alerts you (in your aisle seat) take a lesson from Ninjas: take a deep breath and exit stealthily.
- Look who's talking! I'm sure most of us have been in a meeting where people around the table paid far more attention to their mobile devices or laptops than the person speaking. That's rude. You're basically telling that person that they're not important.
- Do one thing well. According to the American Psychological Association, multitasking actually wastes time because your brain has to constantly switch gears – a process that itself takes time. So while someone is sending an instant message and talking to you, they may feel as if they are getting twice as much done, but in reality the constant shifts of their attention can cause mistakes.
Giving a boss, a colleague, a client, or a partner just half of your undivided attention can be career-threatening. Who wants to work with someone who isn't really focused on what they're doing? Minding your mobile manners isn't just the right thing to—it's also good business.
—Tyson Greer
