Now, this isn’t going to be your usual list of rules. At this point, we all know them right? Actually what I am curious about which rules are you OK with breaking and why. So – to the polls!
What prompted this is a regular meeting we have where one person ALWAYS has their phone, does NOT have children, and ALWAYS has it in his/her hand, and rather obviously looks at it or responds to a text in every single meeting no matter how short.
The only time I ever carried my phone with me to a meeting at work was when I was expecting a text from my school aged child about where he was going after school and if he needed a ride somewhere. I knew that text would come mid-way through the meeting and I had planned ahead to be able to discreetly handle the situation. I am quite sure the only person who knew I had my phone was the person seated next to me because I kept it on my lap the whole time, then put it away entirely once the messages were exchanged.
So, I am curious – am I just SUPER conscious about cell phone etiquette in meetings? Or is this person regularly crossing a line that most people just would not cross?
Trees & Flowers & Birds! 
As an employer, I am not a fan of people even bringing their cell phones to work. I find it incredibley annoying to hear employee’s phones ringing and or buzzing with texts. For those of you that think you are being descreet . . . I have news for you. We know what you are up to and it WILL affect you next review and may result is a much lower pay increase. You see, when you are at work, the priority needs to be work. There are exceptions, like you discribed for short interactions like that described above. As a parent I understand that you will be more productive after you know your child or parent or spouse are safe, etc. But there is a limit. For example, checking Facebook or playing Words with Friends . . . Not acceptable, unless you are on a break – a real break – not an I was interrupted in the middle of a project and dropped everything break.
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Calvin – I completely agree. It just stuns me what goes on – Obviously, no one is disciplining the offending person in this situation so the behavior continues. That irritates me because even though I KNOW folks don’t care around here, I would still NEVER do that!
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