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There are two types of people in the workplace: Those whose Blackberry addiction renders them incapable of turning off the device and those who want to rip the Crackberry from their hands and crush it beneath their feet. That's the picture painted by the New York Times discussing the etiquette of using Web-enabled smartphones during meetings.
Traditionalists say the use of BlackBerrys and iPhones in meetings is as gauche as ordering out for pizza. Techno-evangelists insist that to ignore real-time text messages in a need-it-yesterday world is to invite peril…Despite resistance, the etiquette debate seems to be tilting in the favor of smartphone use, many executives said. Managing directors do it. Summer associates do it. It spans gender and generation, private and public sectors.
But the 180 comments posted since Sunday overwhelmingly label the chronic smartphone user as a rude, insulting addict. A smattering argue that if they couldn't multi-task during meetings, they'd never get their work done.
Even legitimate smartphone use like, say, taking notes or checking a fact during a meeting, can lead to big trouble:
In Dallas, a college student sunk his chance to have an internship at a hedge fund last summer when he pulled out a BlackBerry to look up a fact to help him make a point during his interview, then lingered - momentarily, but perceptibly - to check a text message a friend had sent, said Trevor Hanger, the head of equity trading at the hedge fund, who was helping conduct the interview.
Here's our take on smartphone use:
- Never, ever use one during an interview, unless the interviewer asks you to.
- The bigger the meeting, the less likely anyone is to notice you're using.
- Pay attention to company culture and distinguish between what's done internally and at external meetings.
- Consider the possibility that you're simply bored, unfocused and easily distracted.
- Take the power structure into consideration. The more power you have, the more smartphone you can use.
- If the use is legit, make sure people know. For example if you’re taking notes ask who wants copies.
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