How many times have you heard those words recently? If you are in sales or you are a supplier like us then you may have noticed this strange phenonmenon that seems to be occurring across all business sectors; what I am talking about is the annoying habit of answering a phone while in a meeting.
So two things are occurring here; one is that the person you are having the meeting with (if you are in fact in a meeting, more on that later) has now been sent a message that says the phone ringing is more important than them and secondly the person ringing you is now wondering why on earth you answered if you can’t talk because you are in a meeting? The words ‘I am not free to speak as I am in a meeting’ are ringing out all over the business world, why?
Is it the fact that we either need to feel important that we answer the phone simply so we can tell people we are in a meeting? Or is it the fact that with the explosion of the smartphone we simply cannot be disconnected even for a short period of time?
When was it OK to start answering calls when you are in a meeting or if not when did become OK to lie to the person calling you by saying you are in a meeting when in fact you just don’t want to talk to them? If you REALLY don’t want to talk to the person ringing you, tell them so. Otherwise they are going to just keep ringing you!
I ran a poll on LinkedIn to see if there are any company policies regarding answering phones in meetings and the scary result was not ONE person came back and said they had one but many people said they WISHED they had one, mmmmm.
So my questions to you are:
Do you have a written policy regarding answering phones in meetings? Do you need one?
Do you answer your phone in meetings? Why?
I would love to stay and chat and debate these answers with you but I am in a meeting……!
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