Are you reading this in a meeting? 76 percent of people surveyed think it is
unacceptable behavior in a meeting though men are more likely to think it’s ok
in a power lunch. I give specific etiquette rules in my book SNAP. Here is more
of the latest research on who thinks it’s ok to text and check emails during a meeting.
Women are twice as likely as Men to be offended by
Smartphone Use
October 25, 2013 • by News at Marshall
First empirical
study of business etiquette and smartphones shows how mobile manners vary by
gender, age and region - with important implications for hiring, career
advancement and business efficiency
The world
may be increasingly uncivil, and the workplace is no exception. With the rise
of smartphones, you've probably even been a perpetrator of bad behavior
yourself, checking text messages or taking a call during a meeting or business
lunch.
But unlike
rudeness among friends, discourteous behavior in the workplace can have real
implications for careers, hiring and even workplace efficiency, with tension
among coworkers harming productivity. A timely new study co-authored by Peter W. Cardon
of the USC Marshall School of Business and colleagues at Howard University is
the first to provide an empirical baseline for how attitudes towards mobile
phone use actually break down across gender, age and region.
With a
national sample of more than 550 full-time working professionals, the study
reveals what business professionals perceive as acceptable, courteous or rude
use of mobile phones in the workplace. Published today in the journal Business
Communication Quarterly, the research offers a critical baseline for how
attitudes toward technology may change over time and serves as a guide to
navigating social expectations around polite smartphone use.
"Hiring
managers often cite courtesy as among the most important soft skills they
notice. By focusing on civility, young people entering the workforce may be
able to set themselves apart," said Cardon, associate professor of
clinical management communication at the USC Marshall School of Business Center
for Management Communication.
The
researchers first identified the most common grievances people had about
smartphone use among their colleagues, including browsing the Internet and
checking text messages. They then asked working professionals earning at least
$30,000 a year to identify which of these behaviors they considered acceptable
- and which ones are flat-out rude. Among their findings:
·
Three out
of four people – 76 percent – said checking texts or emails was unacceptable
behavior in business meetings;
·
87 percent
of people said answering a call was rarely or never acceptable in business
meetings;
·
Even at
more informal business lunches, the majority of people thought writing a text
message is rude - 66 percent said writing or sending a text message is
inappropriate;
·
Men were
nearly twice as likely as women to consider mobile phone use at a business
lunch acceptable. More than 59 percent of men said it was okay to check text
messages at a power lunch, compared to 34 percent of women who thought checking
texts was appropriate.
·
Similarly,
50 percent of men said it was acceptable to answer a call at a power lunch,
compared to 26 percent of women.
·
Despite
the casual reputation, professionals from the West Coast were less accepting of
mobile phone use in meetings than people from the East Coast;
·
Higher-income
professionals had less tolerance for smartphone use in business meetings;
·
Dramatic
age gap: Younger professionals were nearly three times as likely as older
professionals to think tapping out a message over a business lunch is
appropriate – 66 percent of people under 30 said texting or emailing was okay,
compared to just 20 percent of those aged 51-65;
·
At a
working lunch with five other people? Chances are, just having your phone out is
offending somebody: A full 20 percent of professionals said simply having your
phone out at a business lunch is rude.
·
Saying
"Excuse me" to take a call didn't cut it, over 30 percent still found
it to be rarely/never appropriate during informal/offsite lunch meetings.
"Not
surprisingly, millennials and younger professionals were more likely to be
accepting of smartphone use, but they might be doing themselves a
disservice," Cardon said. "In many situations, they rely on those
older than them for their career advancement."
Melvin C.
Washington and Ephraim A. Okoro of Howard
University were co-authors of the study.
Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at
www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at
www.snapfirstimpressions.com. Also check out Patti's YouTube channel at
http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.
