No one likes being put on hold.

Yet it happens daily in the workplace – during breakfast meetings, in hallway discussions or the corporate boardroom.

The culprits are easy to spot. They’re the ones with the cellphones, laptops or any other mobile technology that keeps them “connected.”

They’re the folks constantly checking their BlackBerry for a message, sending wireless e-mails during a strategy session, or answering the phone while sitting across from a client over lunch.

File photo by Larry MacDougal, Business Edge
Sue Jacques of Influence, etiquette and protocol ltd. says many people don’t understand that tech rudeness is unprofessional.

According to a recent national poll, a significant segment of the business community in Canada breaches “tech etiquette” on a regular, if not annoying basis.

Many of them are business professionals who simply don’t understand that their breaches are ineffective, disrespectful and unprofessional, says Sue Jacques, president of a Calgary-based company called Influence, etiquette and protocol ltd.

“We have to recognize that technology is an important tool in today’s world,” Jacques says. “But if you take a call during a meeting, what you are doing, in effect, is putting the other people in the meeting on hold.”

At the same time, the person answering calls or e-mail is also dividing his or her attention, she explains.

“The point is that it’s pretty hard to deal with more than one person, or issue at one time. So if you’re taking calls, you are not focused on the issue at hand.”

Although it would seem that tech etiquette would be common sense (and good manners), a recent survey developed by Robert Half Technology says it isn’t so.

In a Canadawide poll of 270 chief information officers asked about breaches in tech etiquette, 69 per cent said the problem is more common today than three years ago.

The survey found that 39 per cent of those interviewed said abuses had increased significantly. Of the remainder, 30 per cent said problems remained the same; one-quarter reported problems had decreased somewhat; and four per cent said breaches decreased significantly.

Asked what bothered them most during business meetings, 80 per cent said that someone answering a cellphone was the worst offence. Seventy-nine per cent said leaving a cellphone ringer on is a definite “don’t,” and three-quarters frowned on the act of sending or replying to e-mail when meetings were being held.

But transgressions don’t just happen in the office, says Jacques.

As an example, she points to the ubiquitous business person walking downtown with a cellphone glued to his or her ear.

It’s pretty tough to take notes and refer to documents while walking down the street with a phone to your ear, with cars honking their horns and the wind whistling through your hair, she says.

“When you are speaking to a client, it should be all about your client . . . people like to feel that you matter to them and you are important,” she says. “And when you give the idea through your actions that you are just squeezing them in between going from Point A to Point B, you lose the effect of how important your clients are to you.”

Jacques is also aware of a disturbing trend she calls “reverse rudeness.” Remember what it feels like to go to a department store and see all the clerks busy with trivial work when you need help? Now, consumers are reversing the process by talking on their cellphones when they make transactions, says Jacques.

Jacques recently checked into a hotel and watched a man on his cellphone conduct an entire transaction with a clerk by pointing and gesturing.

“Not once did he speak to the woman who was behind the desk,” she recalls. “The clerk very graciously attended to his needs while he completely ignored her. He was on his cellphone the entire time.”

Jacques understands that mass use of portable devices has occurred quickly, and she believes that people will learn the rules over time.

But as most of us have seen, learning etiquette can’t happen soon enough for some individuals.

Jacques says the worst breach she remembers was when a cellphone went off during a funeral service.

“The guy answered the phone,” she says. “People shake their heads when I tell them that. They say, ‘No way.’ But he did.”

I wonder what he’s like in the workplace.

TECH ETIQUETTE

In a recent survey developed by Robert Half Technology, 69 per cent of chief information officers polled said breaches in technology etiquette are more common today than three years ago. Executive director Katherine Spencer Lee identified “tech-etiquette” blunders that are increasingly widespread and offered tips for avoiding them:
* Taking cellphone calls during meetings. Few things are more disruptive to the flow of business than answering a call in the middle of a conversation. Unless you need to be reached urgently, turn off your phone or set it on vibrate mode before every meeting.
* Using e-mail for sensitive subjects. E-mail and instant messages can be easily misinterpreted because they lack subtle clues such as vocal tone and body language. Refrain from discussing sensitive or personal matters using e-mail and instead reserve these discussions for face-to-face meetings when recipients can be sure of your intended meaning.
* Overusing “reply all.” Make sure your responses to e-mails are sent to only those people who require follow up.
* Using high-tech shorthand. Instant messaging and e-mail have created a language of acronyms with “words” such as BTW (by the way) and IMO (in my opinion). Only use these terms if you’re confident every member of your audience is familiar with them.
* Clicking your camera phone. Don’t take pictures unless there is a business need and you have permission from colleagues.

Web watch:

www.influenceetiquette.com
www.rht.com

(Mike Dempster can be reached at miked@businessedge.ca)