It’s your call... CAREER When using your cell phone in the office or a public
place, are you being polite or a pest? Take the etiquette test, urges Shirley Taylor of ST Training Solutions, Singapore.
“Hey Dave, you won’t believe what the doctor told me yesterday” is not quite what any of us wants to hear from a fellow delegate at a seminar, even if the statement is not directed at us. Cell phones have become ubiquitous,
but standards of behaviour for their use have lagged somewhat. If you want to stay on good footing with your colleagues – and, away from the workplace, like home or in public – it should be remembered that good cell-phone etiquette boils down to one basic rule: use good judgement. Using good judgement when using
your cell phone can make people sit up and take notice of your first-rate behav- iour. Because cell phones now allow us to do so much more than just speak – text, search the internet, watch movies, listen to music, review and respond to emails, play games, and more – a simple list of tips is just not enough. Each phone activity requires good
judgement on the user’s part as to whether a certain time and place is appropriate for a particular activity or not. That’s why a short behavioural analysis is more effec- tive than a list to help you determine for yourself good cell-phone etiquette. Here are some questions to ask yourself when considering using your cell phone...
1What are you doing? 2What are the people around you doing? 3Are you interacting with the people around you in any way? (Hint: if the answer is yes, then let good manners prevail).
4Will your activity disturb the people around you in any way? (Hint: see the hint above).
5How important is the call compared to the first four issues?
An example of when people tend not to use good judgement is when driving. The answers to these questions in a driving situation suggest that your safety
and the safety of the people in other cars are more important than a phone call; it’s certainly more important than a text message or a game. You might not want to turn the phone off while driving, and if you receive a call that needs to be handled immediately, good judgement would dictate that you pull to the side of the road or find a parking lot to continue the conversation. Hands-free use is convenient, but it’s not your hands that are trying to concentrate on busy traffic and the phone call all at the same time. And what about the business lunch
when you are expecting an important call? There are a couple of options for handling this situation. You could turn off your phone, but that’s not particularly polite to the person who might be trying to contact you with the important information. You could answer the call and discuss the entire deal for the rest of the hour, but that would not be polite to others at the lunch. Considering the above
questions, good manners would dictate that you let the
others know at the start of lunch that you may receive an important call. Apologise to them beforehand and let them know that if you do receive the call during lunch, you will keep it short. Thank them for their understanding. Put your phone on vibrate, and if the call comes through, excuse yourself and step away or even outside to keep disruption to a minimum. Good manners are integral to good
judgement. If you are in your office with the door closed, and listening to music over headphones helps your creativity, go for it. But sitting next to someone on pub- lic transport with music so loud from your headphones that people two rows back can name the tune is not so good. Really, a list of rules will not help you
INFO Speaker/trainer/author Shirley Taylor
organises the annual Asian Summit for Secretaries & Admin Professionals (Executive PA Magazine Asia is a sponsor of ASSAP 2012).
www.shirleytaylortraining.com
be noticed for your good cell-phone eti- quette. Instead, learn to develop the best behaviour by keeping in mind the five questions. If the answers suggest you might be causing the people around you danger, irritation or embarrassment, put your phone away and help boost your good reputation. E
ISSUE THREE 2012 |
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