Smartphone

Are you one of those people who can never put down their phone, even while watching a show as funny as The Office on their TV and Internet package? Or are you someone who forgets where they last kept their cellphone? No matter what category you fall in, imagining a world without smartphones is impossible today. Even though most of our daily routines are connected to our smartphone, there are still some places where high phone usage is not encouraged as such. Our workplaces, for instance, come with a set of etiquettes, which is more or less the same in other formal spaces. Read some smartphone practices, implemented indirectly at work and find out which ones are followed more at your workspace:

Avoid Texting during Office Hours

There are some people, whose phones never stop ringing, and then there are some, who simply cannot stop texting during the day. Although the latter is unavoidable, it’s best to reduce this habit at work as much as you can, since texting all day long can significantly affect efficiency. Although it’s highly subjective, you could be in touch with a client instead of a personal connection but your supervisor doesn’t know this. Texting all day long also leaves a negative impression about you on the management. If you are always on the phone, it gives the impression that either you are free because you quickly complete your tasks or you have less work, which gives you so much time to spend on the phone. Texting throughout the day can also leave the impression that you are not getting work tasks done.

Keep Your Mobile Device out of Sight for Keeping it out of Mind

The age-old proverb works perfectly well in your cellphone scenario, out of sight, out of mind. Your cellphone can be a huge distraction, especially if it’s always kept in front of you. That’s why to limit your phone usage during office hours, you should keep your cellphone in the cubicle drawer, in your bag, or in your purse. Because even though, your office environment is relaxed when it comes to cellphone usage, you shouldn’t flout the rules. Furthermore, if you are constantly on the phone during the day, this can lead to ineptitude on your part and drastically affect your work productivity. However, this also does not mean that you should never check your phone during the day. Just don’t keep checking in every five minutes and you are good to go!

Switch on the Silent Mode

Another smartphone habit that employees should regularly practice at their workplace is to keep their alarms switched off and their phones on silent. Since workplaces normally involve people sitting at close distances, it is highly annoying if cell phones are always ringing. That’s why before you come into work, close all alarms and set your phone to silent. This is also useful if you receive regular phone calls from family and friends. Switching on the silent mode with the ringer off doesn’t mean that you will not be notified if you receive a text message or a note on WhatsApp. It’s just that your smartphone will not disturb anyone in that compact space nor disrupt anybody’s concentration on their task(s). After all, nobody likes to sit in a workplace, where phones won’t stop ringing all day long.

Engage in Emergency Calls While at Work

There are situations where it’s not possible to ignore phone calls. For instance, if your parent is in a critical condition and at a nearby hospital’s ICU, then it’s fine to keep the ringer on. Or maybe your child is supposed to be picked up early and will call you at dismissal time, that’s fine too. Such situations are rare and occur once in a blue moon, but if your phone is always ringing, then that’s a big NO-NO. Let your folks know that during office hours, you cannot entertain any kind of calls. Otherwise, you will end up courting trouble with your boss for a bad habit, which can be fixed easily.

Take Your Phone Calls Outside or to a Private Place

Some people have this extremely bad habit of talking loudly on the phone while sitting around other people. If you must attend phone calls during office hours, always take them outside or to a corner, where no one can hear nor can you disturb anyone while you talk. In addition to this, always speak in hushed tones, since no one wants to know the details of your conversation. This is a polite thing to do instead of chatting loudly or guffawing in response to the speaker on the other side of the line. This way you will not disturb the office decorum or disrupt anybody’s concentration. However, it’s always suggested to keep all phone calls for your lunch break only, until or unless necessary.

Keep Your Phone Away When You are Attending a Meeting

This one is crucial for all employees who spend a good amount of time on their phones during the day. You should never use your phone during a meeting unless you are taking notes on it. Besides leaving a bad impression, employees need to give their undivided attention at a team meeting. Otherwise, keep your phone on silent or vibration, or simply don’t bring it to the conference room. It is strongly advised to attend calls or messages, only after the meeting is over.

Wrapping Up

All corporate ventures include a smartphone usage policy in their code of conduct today because they know that implementing such practices will take time. However, if no such law is present and your employer is lenient concerning this, even in that case, one should be highly careful about their phone use for it may put a negative spotlight on the employee. After all, these phone practices come under etiquette and can make a big difference for you at work. Although most employers permit connecting an employee’s smartphone with the office Wi-Fi, normally this is negated. However, if you are working from home, then that may be a different matter. Check if your current provider offers a three-tiered service i.e. phone, internet, and TV. If not, go through BuyTVInternetPhone and choose a bundle that offers a fantastic deal under a great pricing model.