There’s nothing worse than whipping out your smartphone during a meeting, and few things will turn someone off to you quite like a mid-conversation text message or even a quick glance at your phone.
Using your phone at inappropriate times annoys your boss and colleagues according to research from USC’s Marshall School of Business, and if you work with women and people over 40, they’re even more perturbed by it than everyone else.
The researchers conducted a nationwide survey of 554 full-time working professionals earning above $30K and working in companies with at least 50 employees. They asked a variety of questions about smartphone use during meetings and found:
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 offsite.
The more money people make the less they approve of smartphone use.
The study also found that Millennials are three times more likely than those over 40 to think that smartphone use during meetings is okay, which is ironic considering Millennials are highly dependent upon the opinions of their older colleagues for career advancement.
TalentSmart has tested the emotional intelligence of more than a million people worldwide and found that Millennials have the lowest self-awareness in the workplace, making them unlikely to see that their smartphone use in meetings is harming their careers.
Why do so many people find smartphone use in meetings to be inappropriate?
When You Take Your Phone Out It Shows
Lack of respect: You consider the information on your phone to be more important than the conversation at hand, and you view people outside of the meeting to be more important than those sitting right in front of you.
Lack of attention: You are unable to stay focussed on one thing at a time.
Lack of listening: You aren’t practising active listening, so no one around you feels heard.
Lack of power: You are like a modern-day Pavlovian dog who responds to the whims of others through the buzz of your phone.
Lack of self-awareness: You don’t understand how ridiculous your behaviour looks to other people.
Lack of social awareness: You don’t understand how your behaviour affects those around you.
I can’t say I’m surprised by the USC study’s findings. My company coaches leaders using 360° assessments that compare their self-perception to how everyone else sees them. Smartphone use in meetings is one of the most common coworker complaints.
Bringing It All Together
It’s important to be clear with what you expect of others. If sharing this article with your team doesn’t end smartphone use in meetings, take a page out of the Old West and put a basket by the conference room door with an image of a smartphone and the message, “Leave your guns at the door.”
About the Authors:
Dr. Travis Bradberry is the award-winning co-author of the #1 bestselling book, Emotional Intelligence 2.0, and the cofounder of TalentSmart, the world’s leading provider of emotional intelligence tests and training, serving more than 75% of Fortune 500 companies. His bestselling books have been translated into 25 languages and are available in more than 150 countries. Dr. Bradberry has written for, or been covered by, Newsweek, TIME, BusinessWeek, Fortune, Forbes, Fast Company, Inc., USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Harvard Business Review.
Kevin Kruse is the author of 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management and How Millionaires Plan Their Day: A 1-Page Tool.
