Why I Don’t Bring My Phone to Meetings
The following post is from Michael Piperno’s website, which defines itself as follows: I am a leadership communication coach and employee relations consultant. Through coaching, consulting, and group training programs, I help professionals communicate clearly, speak and present more effectively, build and maintain positive and healthy business relationships, hone their personal brand, and lead with confidence. I also help teams prepare to present at high-level meetings and am an expert advisor for teams with communication issues that affect internal dynamics, relationships, and culture.
«I wish this conversation was as important as your phone.»
That’s what I told myself recently when a colleague kept looking at his phone with every buzz during our 15-minute conversation.
I was giving him what I thought was invaluable free advice, but I had to repeat myself so many times that I simply stopped being generous and resorted to mindless chatter.
I was upset, but this experience made me reflect on my own behavior.
My phone is usually face down next to me at home during dinner and in my pocket during work meetings.
Like most people, it’s almost impossible not to look at it when that glorious chime or buzz sounds, letting me know someone on the other end has something to say.
At work, my excuse for always having my phone with me is to make sure I don’t miss any meetings (I live with my calendar and its notifications).
I love my phone. I was one of those people you saw on TV in 2007 waiting outside an Apple Store to make sure I got mine on launch day.
However, I don’t like the impact these mobile screens have had on face-to-face communication.
A Whole Family Texts Each Other
Last weekend, I saw a family of four at a restaurant (two parents, one teenager, and one young adult). They were all texting each other on their phones instead of talking to each other. (Maybe they were texting!)
In the work world, I’ve had to pause meetings and sit and wait for clients to respond to emails, calls, or messages on their phones before continuing the conversation.
Are all these interruptions worth interrupting a conversation with another person who’s in your presence?
Of course not.
Infrequent emergencies are understandable; constant interruptions are disrespectful. We can do better.
So, two months ago, I stopped bringing my phone to meetings, and it’s been wonderful.
I also leave it in another room when I have dinner at home.
I was never one to answer calls or messages during a meeting or dinner, but my phone would vibrate in my pocket and distract me from the conversation for a moment.
That brief moment was enough to distract me from what I was saying or sharing.
Without my phone, I am fully present and undistracted.
Try it
Put your phone away during work meetings, unless you’re expecting a rare, important call.
And when that happens, explain to your colleagues why your phone could be the key to your time with them.
It’s simple, but it will make them feel more important to you than the other person chasing your attention through your cell phone—someone who probably doesn’t need an immediate response.
Smartphones and Meetings Don’t Go Together
The following contribution is from the Insight Principles website, which defines itself as follows: we are a Benefit Corporation, committed to the social and environmental well-being of the planet. We are also a team of executives, entrepreneurs, and psychologists with decades of experience in business and human transformation. Together, we have led businesses and functions of large corporations, created entrepreneurial startups, worked as leaders and individual contributors, and provided business consulting and social services. In other words, we’ve seen and done a lot, and we understand the challenges facing business leaders at virtually every level.
Welcome to Insight Principles!
Do you use your smartphone during meetings?
You probably do it more often than you think, even if you disapprove of its use during meetings.
Read on to learn more about this interesting paradox.
Smartphones and Meetings Don’t Go Together
The USC Marshall School of Business recently published a surprising study.
It turns out that the majority of people in the corporate world think smartphones aren’t suitable for business meetings. Here are the facts:
– 86% think it’s inappropriate to take phone calls during meetings.
– 84% think it’s inappropriate to text or email during meetings.
– 66% think it’s inappropriate to text or email, even during lunch breaks outside the office.
The more money people make, the less they approve of smartphone use. And if you’re over 40, the percentages increase.
Why was I surprised by the study?
I’m often invited to attend business meetings.
In my observation, smartphones (and laptops) are ubiquitous.
If 86% of people disapprove of smartphone use during a meeting, why do so many people do it?
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
I estimate that 86% of people approve of daily exercise and maintaining a healthy weight, but putting those ideals into practice is another story. Rallying around a good idea is easy.
– Changing behavior requires something more.
– Changing behavior requires awakening.
If an overwhelming majority of people disapprove of smartphone use in meetings, but its use is frequent, who is doing it?
Chances are it’s you.
This type of behavior is often unconscious.
It’s possible to be so caught up in a personal thought bubble that you don’t realize your actions in the moment.
Perhaps you don’t mean to be disrespectful by prioritizing information on your phone over information in the meeting. You probably don’t notice the consequences of your behavior. Perhaps you’re simply thinking something like:
– «This topic has nothing to do with me or my current project.»
– Or «Joe, he’s just talking nonstop. No one listens when he’s talking.»
These are common excuses for looking at your phone and not listening during a meeting.
The level of listening is surprisingly low.
You may feel comfortable listening intermittently because you haven’t yet realized the inherent value of deep listening.
The ability to listen deeply and thoughtfully is an unparalleled advantage, especially when the topics are complex, critical, or sensitive.
However, this type of listening is not the ethic practiced in many business meetings.
It is impossible to listen well when paying attention to your phone during a meeting.
Some leaders require employees to turn off their phones during meetings.
This works within the framework of the meeting, but it doesn’t actually address behavior.
The Insight Principles programs also don’t address behavior.
Instead, we point out behind the scenes what goes on in your mind.
We want to awaken you to the inner workings of your mind—that is, where your behavior begins.
When you awaken, you notice a sense of distraction, boredom, or inattention.
There’s also a sense of being present and listening attentively.
As you become more awake, you recognize the thoughts that over-activate your mind.
As these thoughts fade, you naturally become more present.
You’re more aware of your own behavior.
You observe others and their reactions.
You listen without much internal commentary. Your behavior during business meetings reaches a new standard.
You may still occasionally use your smartphone during a meeting, but your attentiveness will minimize any interruptions.
Your colleagues will appreciate your consideration, but more importantly, you’ll simply feel better being present.
And, on top of that, you might find yourself more creative.
Sandy Krot
This radical «no phone» rule can greatly increase meeting productivity
The following contribution is from INC.com, the prestigious US SMB publication, and is by Jeff Steen, who has spent more than 15 years working with and helping to foster startups in the publishing and marketing sectors. He was instrumental in the growth of the national food magazine franchise, DiningOut; in developing the content offering for the small business resource Early to Rise; and in training new marketing writers at Fit Small Business, based in New York. He lives and works in Colorado. www.jeffreysteen.com
It’s incredibly simple.
Part of the problem with meetings is that even necessary ones are interrupted by constant pings, texts, and messages about other projects.
There’s an easy way to stop that so you can focus on the topic at hand.
I recently wrote about the nightmare of having too many meetings and how to politely but effectively eliminate an unnecessary part of your daily agenda.
Still, meetings persist, and they should.
There are some things that require in-person (or virtual) conversation, especially when dealing with complex or nuanced issues that involve the expertise of the entire company.
The Importance of Meetings
Important decisions often require meetings; when the potential repercussions are considerable, it’s best to carefully evaluate all the information before making a major decision.
The problem is that meetings, even necessary ones, often provide no benefit.
According to a comprehensive analysis of meeting culture in Harvard Business Review, 71% of managers surveyed said their meetings are unproductive and inefficient.
As I explain in the aforementioned article, part of this is simply due to the avalanche of communication.
We’re always receiving messages, calls, notes, reminders, etc., asking us to do something.
And work culture has changed to the point where we’re expected to juggle all of this while, as if by magic, getting our jobs done.
In other words, concentration is lost. And when you can’t concentrate, cognitive acuity and quality diminish.
So, let’s get back to those necessary meetings.
If necessary, let’s make the most of them.
Let’s eliminate unnecessary distractions so that conversation and discernment are fruitful.
How? Remove your phones from meeting rooms.
You’ve probably seen this tactic in some social settings: friends store their phones in a basket by the door or in the center of a table.
These can be retrieved when someone leaves or the meeting ends.
The goal, of course, is for the social event to be the center of attention, not the constant buzzing of phones.
Try the same thing in your meetings. Ask your employees to silence their phones and put them in a drawer
(if the meeting is virtual) or in a basket or box if the meeting is in person.
At the end of the meeting, they can retrieve their phones.
If they need internet access to research on the fly, designate a «researcher» to put their phone away to find the necessary information.
Simple, no doubt, but a highly effective way to ensure we stay focused on the task or conversation at hand.
As leaders, it’s important to foster a culture of focus from the start (without juggling communication), and this starts with a simple mantra: «Yes, that [contact/message/call] can wait.»
3 Reasons Why Checking Your Phone in Meetings is Bad for Your Career
The following post is from the Calm Achiever website, which aims to provide practical tips for increasing your productivity and is written by Arif Vakil.
Do you know what we ask our seminar attendees to do as soon as they arrive at a workshop? Yes, that’s right. We ask them to turn off their phones and keep them away.
Stay away!
Because «silent mode» isn’t enough to break the fatal attraction we feel toward this gadget.
As long as there’s a cell phone nearby, with its enticing array of social apps and hidden, ever-present email, you’ll never be able to dedicate your full attention to learning the valuable principles of GTD®!
The same applies to your meetings. If you’re in the habit of checking your email and think you’re being smart and proactive by multitasking, think again.
This small action of yours could be negatively affecting your career in ways you hadn’t even considered.
You won’t like what you read next. But you should.
The Pavlov Effect
When Ivan Pavlov rang the bell, his dogs salivated. When a cell phone rings, we jump. We drop everything else to answer its insistent call.
As far as being demanding, cell phones are WORSE than a crying baby.
Even if they don’t command attention, their mere presence is like a sign that says, «Pick me up! Look at me! Be my slave!»
In short, as a generation, we’ve been conditioned to be at the beck and call of our phones. And it’s hard to break this routine.
Why is it bad to check your phone in meetings?
The left hemisphere of the brain is curious.
It’s a serial processor. This means it has to complete one task before it can focus sharply on another.
In a meeting, important things happen. Decisions are made.
Policies are issued. Impressions are formed. You need to be alert and present, with all your cognitive abilities on high alert.
When you interrupt a train of thought to respond to a text or send an email, the following things happen:
You shift from «listening» mode to «acting» mode.
This takes time. Therefore, the important things that got you on the phone in the first place are likely not resolved perfectly.
Your brain keeps spinning during the transition.
The connection you had established with the ongoing conversation in the meeting (and its content) is lost.
When you try to pick it up again, you discover your sweet spot has disappeared!
You must push yourself to get back into the «comprehension zone.»
This is a challenge, as you now have two things—the meeting and your phone—competing for your mental bandwidth.
Due to the constant coming and going, you don’t get much use out of the meeting. It’s as if you didn’t attend.
Okay, now you can argue that nothing important happens in the meetings you attend.
I’m talking about a utopian situation where the boss’s favorite isn’t hailed as a genius all the time! Fair enough.
While administrative tasks don’t benefit much from meetings, your personal presence in the company certainly does.
A recent survey by the Marshall School of Business revealed that management often considers cell phone use in meetings «rude.»
It shows a lack of respect.
It literally says, «Your opinions are so boring, I’d better check what my colleagues are saying.»
So, every time you use your cell phone, you’re also damaging your professional image!
What should you do then?
Pay attention to your attention.
It’s your most valuable asset. If it gets distracted, repurpose it for more productive activities.
Before entering a meeting, make a commitment to yourself: You will NOT touch your phone. No matter what! And stick to it.
You can also do a quick mental review of the things you need to process once the meeting is over and set the list aside.
This way, you’ll walk into the meeting room confident that you have everything under control and feel less need to use your phone.
Try this recommendation and share your experience with the Calm Achiever community.
Why You Should Ban Phones and Laptops in Meetings
The following post is from the Spice Works portal, which defines itself as: Connecting the IT industry since 2006. We are the marketplace where technology buyers and sellers come together to
