But a spirited debate about etiquette has broken out. Traditionalists say the use of BlackBerrys and iPhones in meetings is as gauche as ordering out for pizza. Techno-evangelists insist that to ignore real-time text messages in a need-it-yesterday world is to invite peril. The phone use has become routine in the corporate and political worlds. A third of more than 5,300 workers polled in May by Yahoo HotJobs, a career research and job listings Web site, said they frequently checked e-mail in meetings. Nearly 20 percent said they had been castigated for poor manners regarding wireless devices. Despite resistance, the etiquette debate seems to be tilting in the favor of smartphone use. Managing directors do it. Summer associates do it. It spans gender and generation, private and public sectors.
Ban of smartphones A few years ago, only “the investment banker typesŽ would use BlackBerrys in meetings, said Frank Kneller, the chief executive of a company in Elk Grove Village, Ill., that makes water-treatment systems. “Now it’s everybody.Ž He said that if he spotted 6 of 10 colleagues tapping away, he knew he had to speed up his presentation. It is routine for Washington officials to bow heads silently around a conference table while others are speaking, said Philippe Reines, a senior adviser to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Although BlackBerrys are banned in certain areas of the State Department headquarters for security reasons, their use is epidemic where they are allowed.
“You’ll have half the participants BlackBerrying each other as a submeeting, with a running commentary on the primary meeting,Ž Mr. Reines said. “Some professionals admitted that they occasionally sent mocking commentary about the proceedings, but most insisted that they used smartphones for legitimate reasons: responding to deadline requests, plumbing the Web for data to illuminate an issue under discussion or simply taking notes.Ž
Few companies have formal policies about smartphone use in meetings, according to Nancy Flynn, the executive director of the ePolicy Institute, a consulting group in Columbus, Ohio. Ms. Flynn tells clients to encourage employees to turn off all devices. “People mistakenly think that tapping is not as distracting as talking,Ž she said. “In fact, it can be every bit as much if not more distracting. And it’s pretty insulting to the speaker.Ž Still, business can be won or lost, executives say, depending on how responsive you are to an e-mail message. “Clients assume they can get you anytime, anywhere,Ž said David Brotherton, a media consultant in Seattle. “Consultants who aren’t readily available 24/7 tend to languish.Ž Communication revolvers In Dallas, a college student sunk his chance to have an internship at a hedge fund last summer when he pulled out a BlackBerry to look up a fact to help him make a point during his interview, then lingered - momentarily, but perceptibly - to check a text message a friend had sent, said Trevor Hanger, the head of equity trading at the hedge fund, who was helping conduct the interview.
Mr. Brotherton, the consultant, says that it is customary now for professionals to lay BlackBerrys or iPhones on a conference table before a meeting - like gunfighters placing their Colt revolvers on the card tables in a saloon. “It’s a not-so-subtle way of signaling ‘I’m connected. I’m busy. I’m important. And if this meeting doesn’t hold my interest, I’ve got 10 other things I can do instead.’ Ž
The New York Times
