As mobile device users continue to increase, the mobile device usage etiquette continues to head south. Although people use their mobile phones everywhere and for any purpose, most of them think that it is enough excuse not to pay attention to the people around them. Unfortunately, that becomes part of your first impression. Now, combine that with poor interaction skills, even with those they text and message, and it’s a personal branding nightmare before you’ve even said, hello!
Aren’t you making a misstep with the mobile phone? People around you may think otherwise. Here are some professional mobile etiquette tips that will help you, at the very least, not to let someone feel offended or uncomfortable when you are interacting with your mobile phone.
1. Driving and using mobile phone
Although there are laws governing the use of mobile phones while driving, some people still feel compelled to break the law and use their mobile phones while driving. Now, if they were content to use hands-free mode. But time and time again, there are still people who become a road hazard when they answer a call or even text while driving.
How professional are you when you’re stepping into someone else’s lane? Or when you’re too involved in your conversation to remember that green means go? Nothing is more rude or less professional than a driver who seems unconcerned about other drivers on the road, pedestrians, or even their passengers. Just don’t do it.
2. Using your mobile phone while you’re with someone in person
So you’re having a good conversation with a friend, a colleague, or even a date, and then the phone rings, you excuse yourself to answer it, and you end up talking to the caller for a while.
The mere act of answering the phone says a lot that “maybe there’s something more interesting or important than you” on the other line!
3. Make your phone ring in a place that is supposed to be quiet
Don’t you find it annoying when you’re in a movie theater and engrossed in the plot of a movie, when suddenly a random person’s phone rings, ruining the experience? Truly, a telephone ringing in a movie theater, a library, a church, a meeting, and so many other places epitomizes the height of bad manners.
Please put your mobile phone on silent or vibrate so the rest of the world can see and hear what is going on in peace. (And, make sure you can find your phone. Sure, you’re not distracted by your phone ringing, your babbling excuses that you’ll “never be able to find this thing” and that you were “going to” turn it off. Oh please!)
4. Talking too loud when using the mobile phone
I often wonder when someone does this: is he really on the phone or is he so attention-hungry that he’s creating this huge distraction for us? First impressions are lasting.
5. Exposing too much information when speaking on the phone in public
Some people seem to have a habit of this. They end up talking for a long time using their mobile phone, and the people around them can hear everything from the playful kissing noises they’re exchanging with their partner, to their conversation about bowel movements and constipation.
There’s a reason personal conversations are called “personal” and that’s because no one else wants to hear you cry dramatically while talking on your cell phone. So when you get a personal call in a public place, simply tell the other person you’ll call them back, or find a quiet, relatively private place to talk.
6. Use annoying and embarrassing ringtones
I am totally in favor of personal preferences and also not putting obstacles in your own way. Therefore, during business hours, vibrate seems to be the safest option.
When you think about it, mobile professional etiquette isn’t rocket science. Actually, it’s very simple: basically it’s about using common sense. However, how rare is that?
Remember, you never know who someone is; who will come; or who they influence. Give them a first impression that’s worthy of a second glance, meeting, networking, or interview.