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"They don’t know what texting during a meeting makes others think" I ran into this recently while wearing my Sales Engineer hat. I use Evernote on my Nexus 4

by jauer 13y ago

"They don’t know what texting during a meeting makes others think" I ran into this recently while wearing my Sales Engineer hat. I use Evernote on my Nexus 4 to take notes on everything but it clearly gave off a negative impression. The looks of disapproval ceased after I started using a tablet and leaving the phone out of sight. There seems to be a generation gap between people that fully use smartphones and those who view phones as just phones and tablets as a acceptable replacement for legal pads and laptops.

snprbob86 13y ago
I'm pretty young and would consider myself on the "full use smartphones" side of the generation gap. However, I still think it's extremely rude to use a phone, tablet, and yes, even laptop, during a meeting. There is a very noticeable difference in attention capacity between those who take notes with paper and those who use electronic devices of any kind. Devices with a screen tend to draw your attention even when you are not typing. More importantly, almost everybody can write while looking up and making eye contact, but very few people can type while making eye contact. Almost nobody can use a touch screen no-tactile-feedback keyboard without gazing off into the great glowing yonder. Even if you can type on a laptop while maintaining eye contact, your shoulders are postured towards your keyboard and not towards the speaker. Writing with a pen or pencil gives you much more upper body range.
VLM 13y ago
Participants are required to have a consensus that meetings aren't a waste of time. You can do work and business tasks on either a phone or tablet, but the purpose of a meeting isn't to accomplish anything like that. How are you supposed to display primate dominance behaviors over a text message, or show your position in a hierarchy by demanding subordinate attendance?

by jauer 13y ago

snprbob86 13y ago

I'm pretty young and would consider myself on the "full use smartphones" side of the generation gap. However, I still think it's extremely rude to use a phone, tablet, and yes, even laptop, during a meeting. There is a very noticeable difference in attention capacity between those who take notes with paper and those who use electronic devices of any kind. Devices with a screen tend to draw your attention even when you are not typing. More importantly, almost everybody can write while looking up and making eye contact, but very few people can type while making eye contact. Almost nobody can use a touch screen no-tactile-feedback keyboard without gazing off into the great glowing yonder. Even if you can type on a laptop while maintaining eye contact, your shoulders are postured towards your keyboard and not towards the speaker. Writing with a pen or pencil gives you much more upper body range.

VLM 13y ago

Participants are required to have a consensus that meetings aren't a waste of time. You can do work and business tasks on either a phone or tablet, but the purpose of a meeting isn't to accomplish anything like that. How are you supposed to display primate dominance behaviors over a text message, or show your position in a hierarchy by demanding subordinate attendance?