Cellphone rules 'evolving'

2007-08-15 10:10

Johannesburg - Your cellphone is vibrating in your pocket while you're trapped in an endless business meeting.

Surreptitiously bringing the device into view under the mahogany table you see the caller ID - it's your boss and she wants to know if the company has sealed the deal.

Do you: a) Reject the call and text her later b) whisper an update into the phone under the desk and ignore the cellphone rage aimed at your hunched back c) leave the room, whispering into the phone on the way out or d) let it go to voicemail and call her back after the meeting?

The lines are clear about using a cellphone during a movie, a funeral or during sex: don't do it. But in the fast-paced world of business, the rules appear to be pliable.

According to New York Magazine's urban etiquette guide, taking a call during a business meeting is a code red offence.

The sensitivities surrounding cellphone etiquette are mirrored in one of the criticisms levelled by detractors of sacked deputy health minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, who reportedly "fiddled with her phone" during meetings.

But the cellphone has come a long way from being the "in case my car breaks down" item once reluctantly acquired.

Now people can do their banking, listen to the news, check their diaries, go onto the internet to check market developments, check and reply to email, receive messages from their home security company. And, of course, play golf. Or update their status on Facebook. Or browse through some mobizines.

According to Dr Peter Tobin, IT specialist at the Gordon Institute of Business Science, the applications available on a cellphone and the modern expectation of multitasking have turned cellphones into a powerful business tool.

'Things are evolving'

A cellphone can be used as a tool during negotiations through the exchange of private text messages with a person in the same negotiating session, for example.

"In the old days people use to pen notes and push them across the table to each other," said Tobin.

"It's old fashioned thinking that somebody can't do more than one thing at a time. Things are evolving."

But, cautions Tobin, the etiquette relating to cellphone use must be established at the beginning of the meeting.

For some companies it is a condition of service that their employees be contactable at all times. This often includes an agreement that the company will foot their cellphone expenses.

A busy Johannesburg public relations executive says, "If I'm in a meeting and I see it's the CEO on the phone, I have to answer."

His company's policy states that he has to be contactable two hours before and after every work day and his boss expects him to be available on the phone immediately.

"About two or three years ago I used to get very upset when I was chairing a meeting and someone took a call. But it's kind of like acceptable these days. I'm comfortable with it now if it doesn't disrupt the meeting."

But, he adds it is not done to accept a call from a spouse while in a meeting unless disaster has struck.

It's all about attention'

His pet hate is when people take a call during a meeting only to say in a stage whisper "I'm in a meeting".

"Go outside, don't disrupt people. Reject the call and then SMS people to say you are in a meeting," he advises.

Malcolm Midgley, divisional commander for Emergency Services in Johannesburg is constantly being called by reporters seeking information of crashes or fires.

"If I don't get a call for 20 minutes I think there's something wrong with my phone. Most people are used to the fact that my phone is going to ring all the time but I do excuse myself before answering. But my wife does get stressed about it sometimes."

He will answer almost every number he recognises but tends to let private numbers go to voicemail and then phone them back later.

Arthur Goldstuck, head of the technology research company World Wide Worx, believes it is still unacceptable to answer a cellphone during a meeting, unless it's an emergency.

Playing with the phone will give the impression that you are browsing and connecting with someone else, advised Goldstuck.

"It sends a clear signal that what is happening on the phone is more important than what is happening in the meeting. An SMS can tell someone you're busy and can't respond to them immediately," said Goldstuck. "It's all about attention."

If it is established at the beginning of the meeting that it would be acceptable to carry on with office work then it is acceptable to use a cellphone.

"Our research shows that people will still tolerate a cellphone ringing, but will not tolerate a cellphone being answered."

- SAPA