The use of cellular phones has turned into mobile madness. Every where you go, you are bombarded with the sounds of cell phones ringing and people shouting to be heard by a person who is nowhere to be seen. While I was standing in line at a fast food restaurant recently, a phone rang. Six of the nine people waiting in line to place an order grabbed for their belts. One came up a winner and took the call.
It’s crazy. The number of cell phone users is on the increase, and so is the number of cell phone abusers. People take calls in public places, scream into their phones, and discuss their personal or their professional life in front of total strangers. The most bizarre thing of all is that everyone on a mobile phone thinks that he is the polite one and all those other people are the rude ones.
Not adhering to cell phone etiquette can tarnish your professional image, and in business, image is everything. If you want to outclass and outlast your competition, learn to avoid the seven deadly sins of cell phone usage.
1. FAILING TO TURN OFF YOUR PHONE IN PUBLIC PLACES. Unless you are the head of the National Hurricane Center and there is a major storm brewing in the Atlantic, you can probably put your phone on silent ringer or vibrate. Phones ringing in theaters, restaurants, elevators, libraries, churches and doctors’ offices, to name just a few, are a disruption.
2. ANSWERING THE PHONE WHEREVER YOU ARE. So it rings. You don’t have to answer it. Check the caller ID or the voice mail and walk to a private place to return the call. If the call is so critical that you think you have to take it immediately, maybe you should have stayed at the office.
3. TALKING LOUDLY INTO THE PHONE. It is not necessary to raise your voice. The phone may be small, but the microphone is extremely sensitive and will pick up your voice without your shouting. The truth is that you can lower your voice while speaking into a cell phone and be heard perfectly well. If there is a lot of noise around you, don’t stand there and yell. Move to a quieter spot. If the signal is weak, call back later.
4. MULTI-TASKING WHILE MAKING CALLS. It is considered a sin in the 21st century to do only one thing at a time. After all, technology has freed us to accomplish so much more than we used to in the space of a twenty-four hour day. No one wants to be guilty of wasting a moment. Time is a precious commodity, but so is consideration of others. Wait until you have finished your banking, shopping and marketing before calling your colleague to chat. The people in line behind you value their time, too.
5. SELECTING ONE OF THOSE ANNOYING RING TONES. If by chance you forget to put your phone on silent ringer, people do not want to be subjected to Beethoven’s Fifth, Jingle Bells or some other catchy tune. If you want to be taken seriously, choose a traditional ring for those occasions when the unavoidable occurs.
6. TAKING A CALL WHEN YOU ARE IN A FACE-TO-FACE CONVERSATION WITH ANOTHER PERSON. This is the height of rudeness. There was a time when people knew not to take calls with clients, associates or anyone else in their office. They asked someone else to answer the phone or used their voice mail option. The rules haven’t changed just because the technology has. The person in front of you has priority.
7. USING YOUR CELL PHONE WHILE DRIVING, FLYING OR PUMPING GAS. Where safety is involved, this should be a no-brainer. Slowly but surely, states are enacting laws to prohibit the use of cell phones while driving. Statistics show that the number of accidents that occur while the driver is using a cell phone is significant. The airlines announce that phones can interfere with the navigational devices. And there are too many incidents where cell phone usage has sparked a fire at the gas pump. No phone conversation is worth endangering a life.
Cell phones are not the problem—people are. They have confused expediency with etiquette and are sacrificing courtesy for convenience. Just because people can make or take a call anytime anywhere doesn’t mean they should. In the interest of professional image and relationships, businessmen and women should turn off their phones rather than their clients and colleagues.
Lydia Ramsey, author of MANNERS THAT SELL, keynote speaker and seminar leader, is a leading authority on business etiquette and protocol. To sign up for more FREE business etiquette tips, click here.