Time to put the electronic leash on hold

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Ringing cell-phones have long been forbidden at business meetings. Yet why do so many people think it’s okay to hunch over and quietly tap away text messages or PDA e-mails, oblivious to what’s going on?

BlackBerrys, iPhones, Motorola Qs and myriad other devices are showing up with increasing frequency at luncheons, seminars and other business events. Sometimes offenders try to hide what they’re doing under the table, other times they’re thumb-dancing in plain view.

“It’s extraordinarily rude,” said Debbie Fiorito, president of the 20K Group, a communication strategy and consulting firm in Houston that teaches presentation skills to clients. “The worst offenders are investment bankers and hedge fund managers—the deal makers,” she said. “They cannot put it down.”

Unfortunately, Fiorito said: “It sends the message that my business is so much more important than what I’m hearing in this meeting.” At one business luncheon recently, the woman I sat next to tapped her way through the salad and entree and only put her handheld device down when dessert was served. As you can imagine, conversation was on the stilted side.

“What?” she’d ask periodically, glancing up from her electronic leash. “What?” Many folks are tiring of the distraction and are coming up with ways to say “shut it off”. Fiorito said she coaches her clients to announce at the start of meetings that they have just a short time together and that she would appreciate their full attention. Be pleasant but direct—something like: “I realise you may have to go out and take a call, but I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t use your BlackBerry or text while I’m speaking.”

She has concluded people do not think it’s rude but rather a way to better manage time. “I think they think they can multitask and listen and text at same time,” she said. “But it’s not true.”

As a general rule, Don Sweat, president of the Galleria Chamber of Commerce, is careful not to send—or read—messages during meetings. There is one caveat—if he is expecting a call, he lets the other people in the meeting know that he may have to take it.