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20-Somethings Think It's OK To Text and Answer Calls In Business Meetings
RichDiesal writes "In an upcoming article in Business Communication Quarterly, researchers found that more than half of 20-somethings believe it appropriate to read texts during formal business meetings, whereas only 16% of workers 40+ believe the same thing. 34% of 20-somethings believe it appropriate to answer the phone in the middle of a meeting (i.e., not excusing yourself to answer the phone — answering and talking mid-meeting!). It is unclear if this is happening because more younger workers grew up with mobile technology, or if it's because older workers have the experience to know that answering a call in the middle of a meeting is a terrible idea. So if you're a younger worker, consider leaving your phone alone in meetings to avoid annoying your coworkers. And if you're an older worker annoyed at what you believe to be rude behavior, just remember, it's not you – it's them!"
Then people can answer calls/check facebook/play minesweeper during meetings without being noticed.
Kids today got respect!
Oh and GET OFF MY LAWN!
Hey wait, can you come back and show me how this new phone works?
Warning: Teh poster of this messaeg is lysdexic
Most of upper management is on their crackberry when anything remotely technical pops up in a meeting.
Maybe the young kids have just figured out what the older generations haven't, which is that meetings are often a life-draining waste of time? They could be answering their phones in passive-aggressive protest of being locked up wasting their time in a conference room. </snark>
It's rude to answer a call in class or a meeting, you are supposed to step outside.
But, texting - yeah, that's normal.
(I'm not a 20-something, but I attend classes and meetings where most people are 20-somethings)
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Texting, (and e-mailing, and web surfing, and just letting your thoughts drift) is ok if the meeting is boring enough :-) At our place of work lots of people do this, even older ones, if the meeting's dullness justifies it... (and can be construed as a discrete way of letting the chairperson know..., hehe)
Most 50- and 60-somethings I know think it's OK, too.
Ignoring any potential objective effects, wouldn't it make more sense to state, "if you're an older worker, remember that they aren't trying to be rude?" And then, maybe to say something, instead of judging silently?
Basically the assumptions that the "correct" standard of behavior belongs solely to a certain group, and that others should be expected to be a priori aware of others opinions absent communication, are critically flawed.
.: Semper Absurda
Part of the list of things I go over with my new hires is basic business etiquette. I spend at least an hour per employee on it. The most annoying thing I find is people who have a mother/father/significant other who expect them to always answer the cell phone when they call it. My experience is that a lot of people we hire have never worked in a professional atmosphere before... I'm not sure if this is because of our hiring practices, or is because of the general habits of today's younger workforce. If I am in a meeting I scheduled, and someone my rank or lower answers their phone, I almost always immediately end the meeting, to be rescheduled later. I run meetings so as to waste the minimum amount of time required for everyone; I expect the same from others. The public shaming seems to work well at my current workplace.
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
Today, you usually know who's calling before you answer. It may be appropriate to take a call if it's more important than the meeting. If you're in sales, a call from a major customer is probably more important than a meeting. If you're responsible for something operational, a call from someone reporting trouble is probably more important than the meeting.
As for reading texts, if you're in a meeting and the current meeting activity doesn't involve you, it's an effective use of your time. This is more of a large-meeting thing. Large meetings are generally nonproductive anyway.
I can imagine really young people in a chaotic startup texting and messaging in a meeting because it's how the meeting works.
Think "war room" more than "board room."
Just skip them. They are not listening, so they don't have all information needed.
Go on talking. Ask them about their opinion on what was said while being on the
phone. Expose them to their behavior till it gets ridiculous. At least that's what works
for us.
I work in a fairly large technical sales environment, and we exercise a zero tolerance rule for our younger team members when we are out with clients - if you touch your mobile device for any reason beyond presenting content or sharing contacts relevant to the meeting, you will be reprimanded. Don't leave the device on the table, and don't even think about taking notes on your phone - anything that distracts you and forces you to break eye contact with your customer is a bad thing and makes you look like you're only half-interested in the people in the room.
We will occasionally experience some belligerence after they have been reprimanded, but we always remind them that the best, most seasoned sales team members only need four things to close a multi-million dollar sale - pen, paper, whiteboard, and business cards.
Who does this? 27 year old here. If one of my employees did this during a meeting with me I would say something like, "Excuse me, was my meeting interrupting your important phone conversation? Perhaps we can reschedule the meeting around your social life. Would 8PM suit you?" (sarcastically)
Did you consider that the call can actually be more important than "your meeting"? Personally, I assume that if during "my" meeting someone texts or answers a call, then there is a reason for that. And I believe that because I respect the people I am having the meeting with, as they -I assume in good faith- respect me, and they would not divert their attention elsewhere, if it was not for a reason.
If you are not confident in your leadership skills, it is natural to put a grumpy sour face when someone is audacious enough to fiddle with their phone during "your" meeting.
Bottomline, don't be a fucking Nazi.
The three laws of thermodynamics:(1) You can't win. (2) You can't break even. (3) You can't even quit.
Young folks know that business meetings are usually not actually important. Most of the meeting is spent addressing other people's concerns or bragging about some piece of information that the presenter feels is important, but is only trivia to most of the audience. If there's anything else, like a text message, that is perceived as a better use of one's time, they're likely to pay attention to that, rather than the meeting.
Older folks would previously have just dozed off in meetings, or doodled on notebooks looking like they were paying attention. Now that older folks are likely to be the ones leading the meeting*, of course they feel slighted when their subordinates are devoting attention elsewhere.
Another contributing factor is that young folks are more often the expendable workforce. They're the ones who are getting the longer hours and heavier workloads, being taught through their short careers that handling two problems at once is a minimum. There's a good chance that text message is work-related, and not responding would be the greater offense.
* From TFA:
People with higher incomes are more judgmental about mobile phone use than people with lower incomes
...which indicates to me that the older ones are the managers. On a wider study, this assumption may be invalid, as different industries have more youth at the top, but it appears this study covered 200 employees at a beverage distributor for its initial phase, and it doesn't reveal how many were used for the second phase. Not much hope for demographic diversity.
You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
It's outrageous that a writer in modern times would so blatantly try to induce outrage in his readers. PEOPLE ARE TEXTING IN MEETINGS, THE HORROR!
Bottomline, don't be a fucking Nazi.
It's a meeting. You're supposedly discussing something which requires the attention and input of everyone there. If that phone call is that important then get up and go outside. You don't sit in the meeting discussing something else.
It's called common courtesy and common sense. If you consider those two items such a burden, then obviously so are you to the organization.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
I do this. But my company is ok with it so its not an issue. The reason why is that I actually handle business related tasks from my phone like emails. We are a very small company, so when something pops up in an email, as the one in charge of our website and all of the technology, I am sometimes the only person that can respond. The article doesn't really mention the types of businesses, the sizes of these business, or even the culture. So they might have surveyed 204 employees from tech start ups comprised of mostly 20-somethings where this type of behavior is not explicitly frowned upon or even necessary. Also what do they count as "formal meetings"? My company has a few meetings a week ranging from marketing campaigns to a weekly check in. If these young adults ares answering social calls, there is a far larger issue here than them answering it in a meeting. But if they are work related calls and texts, this might be acceptable or even required.
Why pick on 20-somethings? It seems as if people with so-called smart phones pay more attention to their portable toys than to the people around them. Went to an opera last weekend and sat in the balcony with a view over the orchestra section. When the house lights went up for intermission, I looked down on a sea of blue light emanating from little 3" LCDs all over the audience. It struck me that I preferred the rosy, golden hue of audiences 35 years ago, who used those little plastic butane lighters to salute the performers, to the cold, blue indifference of intermission emailers.
ip, therefore im. -- sorry Rene, with love, IP. P.S. Love that thing with all the coordinates.
Did you consider that the call can actually be more important than "your meeting"?
If it's important enough to take, it's important enough to get up and leave.
If you are not confident in your leadership skills, it is natural to put a grumpy sour face when someone is audacious enough to fiddle with their phone during "your" meeting.
If I'm holding the meeting then yes, it's my fucking meeting, and if you've got more important things to do then go do them and quit wasting my time.
Since 90% of what goes on in those meetings involves passive aggressive posturing and yammering, it doesn't surprise me at all. Now, if only these in charge of these meetings would graduate highschool already by letting go of idiotic things like strict dress codes.
They'll learn when the 20-somethings get a poor review, smaller bonuses, passed over on promotions because their superiors are 30, 40, 50 and 60 somethings...
U MAD, BRO?
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
Maybe, until those 60somethings retire/die off and those 20somethings becomes the new 30, then 40, then 50, then 60somethings.. That's what's called a cultural shift. ..and if you tolerate your girlfriend throwing a fit because you checked your phone briefly, you're a simp.
If you're on call, it's appropriate to receive a notification in any situation. That's what it means to be on call, and a lot of young professionals are.
If the notification requires response, it's then appropriate to excuse yourself from the meeting. Just like you'd excuse yourself to hold a person to person side conversation while someone else was presenting.
Moderating "-1, Disagree" is simple censorship. Have the guts to post your opinion.
As a 20 something I'm eagerly waiting for these baby boomers to just retire so we don't have to deal with thier nonsense. There is nothing wrong with answering a text message in a meeting if your are not involved in the conversation and you don't disturb anyone else.
Here is my list of stuff that is rude that over 40s do that I wish would stop:
The actual paper, in PDF format, can be found here.
"It's just like the good old days when people didn't feel like they were entitled to bring their personal lives to work showed up at work to, well, you know, work.", he said, posting the comment to Slashdot in the middle of the workday.
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
Oh, wait, we're already there:
Selfies at funerals
Seriously, people, learn some respect and manners. It won't kill you.
I don't know how you work but if somebody took a call *in* a meeting and made the whole room wait while they dealt with their problem, I'd have words with them. If they did it more than a couple of times, they'd be looking for a new job. Answering a phone call in a meeting is both disruptive and rude, regardless of its importance. If you need to answer it, you quietly make your excuses, step out and then you answer it. If you're in the middle of talking, you yield to somebody else to take over. Anything else is wasting multiple people's time.
The the only exceptions I can think of are if the call is integral to the meeting (live results, conference call, etc) or it's the boss and they know you're *in* a meeting. It's their cash. They can spunk it up the wall if they want to, but I'll still step out to take it. Erm. So to speak.
Tapping around on your phone is slightly more excusable but that does really depend on how much your engagement is required and it can still be considered disruptive. I would mind if people were writing emails. Assuming the person holding the meeting isn't a complete attention-seeking nutbag, there's probably a reason you're in the meeting otherwise it would have been an email.
No, I'm reading e-books on Safari so that this meeting isn't a total waste
Meetings? Check. Texting/modern devices in the workplace? Check. "Get Off My Lawn"-type generalization? Check. This article's author included practically every white-collar-environment cause of rage. And judging by the butthurt-ness of most of the comments so far, the troll was eminently successful. The only thing that could have improved it would have been to specify American 20-somethings, to get cross-ocean flaming as well.
Everything is better with chainsaws.
Take the call. The world revolves around *you*. A sense of entitlement surrounds *you*. Ideally the call should be in a disparate language to the general meeting group. Lets assume English for the meeting, then the call would be in Hebrew, French, Farsi, Cantonese etc (esp languages where speakers naturally raise their tone when in heated conversation). Don't forget to speak loudly and quickly!, cell phones have notorious connection issues, make sure the other party hears *you*!. You are *important* your ideas and thoughts have a lot of merit that need to be conveyed one-way over the handset, everyone in the room realizes that and will make allowance for *you* because of the stature you present.
I would prefer more tact. After the meeting you hold the guy back and politely explain that it was rather rude for him to disrupt the meeting, remind him that if it is important he should politely excuse himself for the meeting.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
As long as this employer doesn't also invade on your home life, then it's fair. I suppose work ends at 5pm for you, and doesn't hassle you until 8am the following business day?
Meetings exist to not get work done.
The amount of work that gets done is the square of the number of participants minus 5.
Thus, a meeting of 2-3 people gets work done, a meeting of 4-5 is ok, and a meeting of 6 or more is usually not a great idea.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
and common sense.
Many nonsensical things were "common sense" in the past. Calling something "common sense" only makes any sense at all when that something is common and makes sense. Unfortunately, it's always useless to do so.
Ignorance is a choice
I work at a large 'Top Ten' company and I see this sort of thing from just about everyone who is under 60 (the older folk seem to doodle on notepads rather than play on phones). It doesn't matter if it's a manager or an intern, if there are more than a handful of people in a meeting you're going to see this. I get tired of hearing exchanges like this day in and day out:
Speaker: And what do you think about that Johnson?
Johnson: (playing on his phone) Huh? What?
Speaker: What do YOU think about this?
Johnson: (glazed look on his face) Umm... Can you repeat what you said? I didn't hear you the first time.
Meetings grind to a halt when this stuff happens. Not only is it rude to the speaker, but you waste everyone's time when they have to go through everything again. Everyone swears they can play on their phone and listen at the same time, but it doesn't work. I understand the occasional emergency call (my favorite was when we could hear the guy shouting "The babysitter is doing WHAT? Stop her before she gets out the door!". I still have no idea what that was about.) but your day to day activities (work related or otherwise) can wait until the meeting is over with. It's just common courtesy.
It's just what a given culture or group decides is the "right" way to act. If more people in that group feel a different way is instead what's acceptable, it eventually will be. "Rudeness" is simply violating a cultural norm. Ask a 70 or 80 year old and he'll tell you these young 40 and 50 year olds look like disrespectful slobs with their "business casual" clothes in a professional office. In some cultures if you admire the fountain pen someone was using it would be offensively rude for him to offer it to you as a gift.
As the twenty-somethings who grew up with this technology expect it to be integrated into all aspects of their life, it eventually will be as they ultimately become the managers and CEOs. Of course, they'll probably find a new thing to complain about "kids these days" doing, even if it's not texting during meetings.
This is actually something I go into quite a bit in my training about business communications.
Part of it is the push-back with the client. Don't accept meetings where a team of 20 are involved where only 2 people are actually relevant. Only include those who are absoloutely needed. Break up big meetings into smaller ones. Schedule meetings for times when they don't occur smack bang in the middle of developers best development times (you know, just between their first coffee of the day and lunch), let them get absorbed in the code for a decent length of time without pulling them up for air... seriously, they will get more code done in that period than at any other time. In fact, don't bother coders when they are in the zone...
Agile, scrum, stand up meetings, they have their place, but who should be involved in what aspects and when is a part that is often done wrong.
Kids -- keep the phones on vibrate. If you need to take an urgent call, excuse yourself and step outside but make it brief. Don't be an ass and do it in every meeting. It's distracting and just not considered courteous. You're obviously in the meeting because your involvement is important.
Old guys -- use the white board when possible. No, we don't want to hear your golfing digressions. There is plenty the rest of us need to get done and watching you fumble with your slideshow is annoying and not very respectful of OUR time. Get to the point. Ask everyone if they understand. If someone isn't getting it, or wants to argue, talk to them after the meeting. The rest of us don't want to referee for the jackass you're sparring with. It's OK if what you had to say only takes 20 minutes. It doesn't mean that what you had to say isn't important, interesting or pertinent.
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I mean, it certainly helps in making the list when layoff time comes around ...
Actually, I'd suggest that one potentially very important thing may have happened. You just got fired for having a poor work ethic and not taking part of your job seriously enough to actually do it.
Good luck trying to collect unemployment benefits when the employer tells the employment bureau why they fired you... unless you are also prepared to lie to the bureau yourself and contradict their claim. And even if you did, the best that would happen for you is that your benefits would be delayed significantly, so you better have enough saved up to survive for without any paycheque for a couple of months while they investigate the claim.
You don't have to like every aspect of your job, but unless you are self-employed and can always afford to lose clients that are less than ideal, that doesn't mean you aren't still obligated to do the parts of your job that you might not like. And that includes meetings.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
They are self-centered and everything is about them, and them only. Common courtesy and respect are gone in that generation..
Do that around me in the office and you are fired, or at the least off the project. Do it around me personally, don't expect to be a friend.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
A lot of the technical people have job descriptions that have you on call, at least, the entire work day.
These job descriptions do not list paying attention at unimportant meetings that have nothing to do with you.
So, of course you read/respond to texts in meetings.
Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
You know I recall a few years ago about an article stating how kids in college would be texting during classes and tests (yes those critical things you need to do to pass your courses) to the point where teachers had to expel them during tests after more than one warning wasn't enough to get them to stop using their cell phones.
I'm thinking this is simply the evolution of those same kids now entering the work force. I'm thinking this might be worth following to see if these same kids will continue their social ways in the next few years. Are we going to see them continue to text in their 30-somethings or will they eventually learn better etiquette?
Heck! Will anything the next generation do irritate them? I imagine by the time they reach their 40s that the new generation will be watching videos (loudly) during meetings or something crazy like that and think it's as appropriate as this group seems to think talking and texting are now.
It's a meeting. You're supposedly discussing something which requires the attention and input of everyone there.
Keyword: "Supposedly."
I've been in many, many meetings in which my contribution to the meeting was less than 5 minutes out of an hour long slog that focused on 2-3 other developers doing work with next to no connection to my own. In bad meetings like that, I think it's acceptable to otherwise occupy yourself -- preferably with actual work, though.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
I suspect (based on a loose study of my family), us older generation believes that the more important people to focus your attention on are the ones in your presence (at the table, in a meeting, etc) and that the person on the other end of the line can wait.
Our kids however, feel that certain people are more important than others regardless of where they are. Their friends are more important than any boss or family that is nearby.
And so, my wife and I will let the phone ring / answer machine take the call, ignore text messages / FB notifications, etc during supper.
And my kids are squirming as if in extreme pain if their phone buzzes and we don't let them immediately see who it's from and if it's a friend let them respond.
I'm not going to say it's a bad priority shift, but it certainly is an interesting one.
I'm in my right mind and I have the answer to everything!
You're absolutely right. "YOU" are entitled. So entitled in fact that you feel entitled to force people to waste hours of actual working time sitting in a room satisfying a completely worthless corporate-culture convention whose only appreciable function is to allow middle management to spout buzzwords for a few hours. And of course YOUR time is so important than even people who don't need to be, and SHOULDN'T be there, cannot do ANYTHING but sit raptly in attention to your pure gospel.
A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
I can't recall the last time I had a personal mobile at work. I don't think I ever did. Work has always issued them to me, and expected personal use on the company phone. I know plenty of people that carry 2+ phones at all times, but that's just silly. Everyone brings personal baggage to work, it's just it's different now.
Learn to love Alaska
"Don't be a fucking nazi. Just because you're responsible for me and you're my boss and possibly responsible for my job and maybe even the owner of the company doesn't mean that you get to tell me how to do my job, man.".
Some of you people really remind me of the "Noodle's Dictatorship" kid:
Wisconsin Labor Protests - Noodles
I became annoyed with an employee who received a LOT of cell phone calls during my infrequent, but necessary meetings with operations managers. Finally I placed a bucket of water by the door and as people entered the room and informed them that, as a security precaution, any cell phone brought into the room had to be placed in the bucket during the meeting. Thereafter, cell phones were left outside and out meetings became shorter and were not interrupted. Yes, I'm over 40, and I still think using a device for talking, texting, surfing or anything else when engaged with one or more live people is inexcusably rude.
It's a meeting. You're supposedly discussing something which requires the attention and input of everyone there.
Keyword: "Supposedly."
I've been in many, many meetings in which my contribution to the meeting was less than 5 minutes out of an hour long slog that focused on 2-3 other developers doing work with next to no connection to my own. In bad meetings like that, I think it's acceptable to otherwise occupy yourself -- preferably with actual work, though.
Those are the meetings where you "get a call" and, being polite, you excuse yourself from the meeting to take said call. This call should end up with you back at your desk doing work, having found the acceptable way to excuse yourself from a meeting at which you are no longer needed.
Now if the meeting agenda is set with your contribution coming near the end, ask someone (quietly) to come and get you when that topic comes up, or let them know that you'll be available to text (so someone can still ask you questions even though you're not there).
But physically staying in the meeting while mentally or verbally going elsewhere is rude. Common, maybe -- but still rude. It's part of what makes meetings such a pain that you don't want to be there in the first place.
We're getting all of these conveniences and our society doesn't have the time to instruct people (kids especially) what is and isn't appropriate behavior. It's not just this. It's people taking snapshots of party goers doing something embarrassing, sexting, phone calls in theaters, etc. I was just at the coffee shop and a woman had one of those bluetooth headsets talking away while at the counter. Now, nothing is more annoying than standing next to someone when you can't tell if they're talking to you, the cashier, herself, or some hidden phone under their hair or on the opposite side of their head.
However, society hasn't had the time to say "hey this pisses other people off so just because it makes irrelevant 5 minutes conversations convenient, wait until you're in private to use this device."
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
Of course it's NOT okay to have sex on their boss' desk during work, he's are already using it! For sex!
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If you look at the actual polling they didn't differentiate people that actually attend business meetings or really define what qualifies as a business meeting.
If you look at how many 20-somethings are still in school, unemployed, under-employed, or just doing some type of non-office work you'll see that a business meeting is something completely different to them.
Most people on slashdot probably think of a business meeting as a project manager meeting with some technical people in an office meeting room, but most people aren't working in an office as technical people or project managers. A business meeting for someone that works as a waiter or cook at a restaurant could be the manager taking 5 minutes to talk about upcoming catering events in the morning before you start doing work.
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I found the opposite to be true. The older demographic (who tended to be higher up) were the ones who took more frivolous calls during meetings. The 20 somethings usually left their phones at their desk. I suppose the younger people questioned might say they think that it is OK for the older folks to do that while if you ask the older folks they would agree that it isn't appropriate but they do it anyways.
I think that can be all well and good for a 'study' except for the last flip comment at the end: "And if you’re an older worker annoyed at what you believe to be rude behavior, just remember, it’s not you – it’s them!" The researchers clearly don't know how to interpret their own data objectively. The study was asking what people thought would be appropriate, not what they actually do!
1) I call meeting in which case have screen up and lasts no more than 30 min to get clarity
2) big 'status meeting' leave when last action with my name on comes on.
3) get bored or have something to do so walk out.
got called out on 3 loads of times never actually harmed career.
Discreetly checking email is one thing. Texting or sending email? You excuse yourself if you're in a meeting but if with a group of friends at lunch or something it may be OK. You do NOT take calls in meetings. You do NOT take calls in restaurants. If you receive a call you excuse yourself and take the call. Why anyone would want to conduct themselves in such a disrespectful fashion is beyond me. The fact that its such a small percentage of people in this study is actual pretty heartening.
I dont see much harm in reading texts (calls is a different topic as it disturbs the other people)
I've always wanted a button I could push to make my phone ring during an interview. That way instead of glancing meaningfully at my watch if I don't like how it's going, I could have my phone ring, answer it and say "Hello? I'm in an interview! No, it's crap! They're using visual source safe and the team members average 80 hours a week! I'm pretty sure he's going to offer me under market, too!"
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Ok maybe not actually taking the phone call IN the meeting room, but we are allowed to excuse ourselves, are allowed to answer texts and emails .. as long as all of the above are work related but only in meetings that are a) not critical, and b) internal meeting (i.e not with clients) and c) you are not directly involved at that time.
Sometimes you need to be in that 1 hour long meeting even though you only directly involved in 5 minutes of it, sometimes you just need to be aware of what is going on, but our boss realizes that we are losing a bunch of productivity, so if we can answer texts/emails from clients/other coworkers without disturbing other people then so be it. Why would other people get disturbed if I am typing out an email on my phone?
"Sick cultures show a complex of symptoms such as you have named... but a dying culture invariably exhibits personal rudeness. Bad manners. Lack of consideration for others in minor matters. A loss of politeness, of gentle manners, is more significant than is a riot. [...] This symptom is especially serious in that an individual displaying it never thinks of it as a sign of ill health but as proof of his/her strength. Look for it. Study it. Friday, it is too late to save this culture... this worldwide culture, not just the freak show here in California. Therefore we must now prepare the monasteries for the coming Dark Age. Electronic records are too fragile; we must again have books, of stable inks and resistant paper. But that may not be enough. The reservoir for the next renaissance may have to come from beyond the sky."
~Robert A. Heinlein, from the novel Friday
<blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
No. I didn't consider that. You know why? Because they fucking stayed in the meeting. If the call is more important than the meeting they can get the fuck out of the meeting. Oh, yeah ... I almost forgot: You're an idiot.
Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
That sounds normal to me. Who voluntarily allows themselves to be annoyed by work when they're not at work? That's the stuff you leave for low paying grunt jobs handled by 20 somethings, although you do find a few workaholics aiming for a divorce who do this.
I wonder how many of them would do this at a fancy dinner with their significant other
An appalling number of them, from what I can see, and their SO doing the same. It's bizarre to me to be at a restaurant with my wife, seeing couples at other tables spending most of their time communicating with people who aren't there. It seems rude to me, but they seem OK with it.
"Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
They should be fired, or have their pay cut.
Sincerely, a 22 year old.
Though, maybe there is a case for just checking notifications. I have a Pebble so these come through on to the watch where it is silent and can be discretely checked. The problem with the Pebble is that if you're caught looking it may appear as though you're rudely looking at the time and thinking "when will this fucking asshole stop talking?". A device such as Google Glass would be the victimless crime in this case (maybe, I have never actually seen one) - but I'm reluctant to be in the presence of somebody who is wearing one (a clearly visible physical shutter for the camera is in dire need!).
They are all about 'respect' ... being directed towards themselves that is. Giving respect just isn't on the radar. Phone/text in a meeting is dis-respect of all others at the meeting, esp. the person(s) being tuned out during the call/text.
Mind you, it isn't just the 20-somethings. Note that the stats show the mind set is present in all age groups.
Blame the Boomers. They taught the world that nothing deserves respect; tear down the establishment, sod religion, nothing but the 'self' matters. And that attitude prevails in everything, it permeates advertising, sports, entertainment ... except, you might think, Disney with its heavy 'family is number one' message. But that message is simply treating the family as a bigger 'self', so it's all the same.
"Consensus" in science is _always_ a political construct.
I see plenty of senior staff members, well and truly over-the-hill types, who are just as bad about using their phones in meetings. 20 somethings are going to take their lead on how to act in a meeting from their peers. If you clearly set an example of what is OK and not OK in a meeting, this isn't a problem but many Managers don't bother to manage. Do yourself a favor and don't bring your phone into a meeting, at all. If you really MUST be connected, weight what is more important to your personal reputation at that moment. Disrupting the meeting and taking a communication, or realizing part of your job is to be fully committed to the place you're at.