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The Cell Phone interruption

LPH

Flight Director
Flight Instructor
Alan Gilbert, conductor of the New York Philharminc, stopped a performance in the middle after a patron's cell phone alarm interrupted the music. The blogosphere is going wild - as if they are smarter than the owner of the phone.

I've made similar gaffes. In the middle of a very important meeting - and during the speaker's pause - a text message came through and a jar jar binks scream blasted through the silence. I had forgotten to change the settings. Now I just leave the phone in the car.

The error can happen to anyone yet some act above it all. For example, one person in the room approached me later and stated "I make my employees bring donuts for everyone when their phones interrupt." Point taken but in a different meeting I saw this person checking his messages during someone presenting.

This leads me to conclude that phones are a distraction for other reasons and we dont have socially accepted rules to address the rude behavior. For example, I've witnessed students who text in the middle of lectures, employees surf the web during meetings, people typing on their phones during movies in a theater or at a dinner table, and I've seen people pull out their phones during conversations.

Again - my phone is set aside now during times it used to be near me. Have you changed your approach?
 

Robert Heiny

Research Scientist of Learning and Education
Flight Instructor
Good idea to control iPhones. A year or so ago, the Harvard Business Review published a set of manners for using cell phones. To violate these is considered uncouth and disrespectful almost to the unforgivable level. That's a standard consistent with the idea of manners: they designate boundaries for acceptable behavior among people. Two of the cell phone rules that I remember include:

1. There is NEVER an acceptable reason to receive or make a phone call during a meal.

2. Cell phones should not be seen or heard during any meeting or in any meeting room with others present.

These manners came from interviews with CEOs and other ranked employees.

I carry an iPhone most places for use in case of an emergency, so I try to remember (as readers probably do also) to turn it off or put it on Buzzer when not using it. It's a habit I try to honor. Like all phones, they're for my convenience to contact someone, not for others to contact me. (Well, with exceptions for family; I'm always glad to hear from them. And, I seldom go to meetings any more.) But then, I'm an old guy by some standards and try to have personal habits that respect others by not interrupting them with my presence unless invited to do so. (Well, my grandchildren might take exception to those last five words. :oops:)

Given the ubiquity of cell phones today, I wonder which people consider the two business manners still relevent?
 

LPH

Flight Director
Flight Instructor
Was this in the HBR newsletter and written by Peter Post?
 

Robert Heiny

Research Scientist of Learning and Education
Flight Instructor
Yes, in the HBR newsletter by a regular columnist. I don't remember the source beyond that.
 
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