Love them or hate them, we’ve made cell phones a necessary part of our lives. We’ve elevated them to the status of oxygen. However, just because you can reach (and be reached) by your “peeps” world-wide, 24/7, doesn’t mean your phone takes precedence over your manners. Good manners are important in your personal and professional life. Today, let’s focus on the Professional side.
Before you enter a client or potential employer’s office, hang up the phone, mute the ringer and put the phone down! Conversely, if you’ve scheduled a meeting with someone and they arrive in your office (or designated meeting place) and you are on the phone, wrap it up immediately. Don’t make them wait while you leisurely conclude your conversation. Nothing says I don’t really care about you (or anyone else) more than walking into someone’s place of business talking on your phone, or interrupting a conversation to answer a call or text. And, if your attention is diverted every time your phone rings, even if you don’t answer it, you’re still sending a negative message to the person your meeting with. In fact, you should put your phone away, out of sight, and just forget about it.
News flash! Constantly interrupting people to answer a call or text doesn’t make you seem important, it just makes you look rude. It’s ok to put the phone down or even turn it off. The world will not end because you didn’t immediately respond to that call or text from your colleague, mother or friend.