Importance Score: 45 / 100 🔵
Navigating modern workplace etiquette can be complex, filled with ever-changing challenges and potential missteps. Questions arise constantly: Is dating a co-worker acceptable? Can employees be mandated to return to the office full-time?
Whether you identify as a perplexed Boomer, a muddled Millennial, or a bewildered Gen Z individual, expert guidance is available. This column offers insights to assist in resolving your professional dilemmas and understanding proper office meeting conduct.
Seeking Guidance on Meeting Etiquette
Dear Nicola,
I recently read comments from Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan, describing it as ‘disrespectful and time-wasting’ when individuals in meetings are distracted by emails or personal messages.
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In my organization, some colleagues frequently engage in this behavior during meetings. Shockingly, some are even browsing dating websites or sending personal texts.
As a team leader facing considerable pressure, I advocate for fewer meetings overall. However, my immediate priority is to foster greater attentiveness from participants rather than witnessing them preoccupied with personal activities like seeking romantic connections or planning vacations. What is the best approach to address this with management without appearing critical of existing company practices?
The lack of focus from capable and intelligent colleagues is concerning. It allows those with less conventional ideas to dominate discussions, potentially leading to questionable decisions.
Yours, Eve
Attention deficit: When able and intelligent colleagues are not focused, those with unconventional ideas often become the most dominant voices in discussions.
Re: Meeting Distractions and Phone Usage
Dear Eve,
It is indeed frustrating when individuals are engrossed in their phones during meetings. I wholeheartedly concur with Jamie Dimon’s assessment that such conduct displays disrespect towards fellow attendees.
A justifiable exception arises only when someone is anticipating a genuinely critical call. In such instances, it is courteous to inform meeting participants beforehand about the possibility of needing to step out briefly to answer an urgent call.
Given your role as team leader, you are well within your rights to communicate to your team your preference for a phone-free meeting environment. Escalating this matter to senior management is unnecessary; you should proactively take charge and implement this standard.
I emphatically agree that phone distractions impede productive office meetings, especially when crucial decisions are at stake. It is simply impossible to fully engage in critical thinking and decision-making while simultaneously reviewing emails and texts.
Personal messaging and holiday planning during meetings represent an extreme level of inconsideration. Should your team demonstrate improved cohesion and decision-making as a result of a no-phone policy, it may encourage other teams to adopt similar practices.
Implementing this measure will undoubtedly lead to enhanced decision quality and garner respect from your superiors.
Yours, Nicola