Is This Really the Most Appropriate Time to Talk on Your Cell Phone?

Monday, June 18, 2012

Margaret Batting, GoLocal Image Consultant and Personal Brand Strategist

I had the pleasure of attending my 10-year-old son’s baseball game on a recent Saturday. At this level the games are long. A Smartphone can be a great distraction when you have been sitting for two hours and you’re only in the 4th inning! Before the games begin, the coach likes to get in at least a half hour of practice time. Great for the kids not so easy for the parents. I figured since I was going to be here for quite a while I’d start working on an outline for an upcoming presentation until the start of the game. As I started typing away on my iPad, I was suddenly distracted by a rather loud conversation. I looked up to see a woman engaged in a conversation across the field from where I was sitting.

As the conversation continued, I noticed her walking across the field toward my direction. At the same time I noticed a very young child who had been playing with her siblings now headed for the parking lot. As I start to panic for this child, I look around to see who is actually watching her. Guess who? The woman talking on the phone. She finally notices that her daughter is headed for disaster and yells to her while still on the phone! After I saw this scenario unfold I asked myself, “How important was this conversation?”. From the bits and pieces I heard, it really wasn’t that important. I know we all want make the best use of our time especially when we want to be at our kids games and manage our workload. But do you really need to make that call during your child’s game when you have a toddler or two in tow? My first impression of this woman was she had bad judgment. Imagine if someone had witnessed this and then ended up in a business situation or community campaign with this individual? What would their impression be?

I can assure you it would not be a positive one. It is important to keep in mind how you represent yourself in all kinds of situations. How you behave tells a story about who you are and what you value. If you want to be perceived in a positive light then you need to be aware of how your behavior impacts others. Last week I gave a number of tips on mobile etiquette. This week I’m sharing additional tips. I have started practicing several of these and I can tell you I am much more engaged in the day–to-day activities that go on around me. I find it much more interesting than burying my face in my phone!

1. Think twice before making a call in public. Ask yourself if it is absolutely necessary that you make that call right now or do you just need a distraction? If it is urgent by all means make the call but do it in a place that provides some privacy. No one wants to listen in.
2. If you do need to make a call while you are in the middle of another activity, let the person on the other end know you have to keep the call brief.
3. If you are with a group of parents at a game, excuse yourself from the group. You can let them know you have to make an urgent call and you don’t want to disturb them. They will appreciate the polite gesture.
4. If your phone rings during a game, silence it and text the individual when you can call back or simply step away from the group and answer the call. I don’t need to hear your plans with your kids.
5. If you end up having a conversation through texting, turn down the media volume. I don’t want to hear every time you receive a new text message.
6. If you are going to bury you head in your electronic device at your child’s game then you should just stay at work. Kids are smart. They know when you are paying attention and when you aren’t. I guarantee more than half your messages are not urgent!
Try implementing these tips at your child’s next activity and let me know if you can do it. You’ll be surprised at how much better you feel not being a slave to your device!

Margaret Batting is the Corporate Style expert for GoLocalProv.com. Margaret is the owner and president of Elevé Image Consulting and the only certified image consultant and personal brand strategist and a Worcester, MA native. She travels the country as the national corporate image consultant for CareerBuilder. For more information, visit www.eleve-style.com.