Mobile Phone Etiquette

In Corporate Etiquette, Dining Etiquette, Meeting Etiquette, Social Etiquette, Technology Etiquette by treska roden

Mobile phone etiquette is such an important topic that at my last session with Josh Szeps on ABC702 we discussed it in detail.

The Meal
Josh asked me what you should do if your phone rings when you are having a meal with friends.  I said that if you are having a meal with people or are in a meeting, then you should switch off your phone.  The people you are with take precedence over someone ringing you.  Many people rang or messaged to agree with this.  

The Baby-Sitter
Then the topic came up of leaving your phone on if you have small children and they are being minded by a baby-sitter.  I said if you are at dinner with friends or at the theatre/movies and would like to keep in touch with your babysitter, then it is better for you to ring the baby-sitter at a convenient time rather than leaving your phone on all the time and waiting for the babysitter to ring you.  

The Meeting
If you are in a meeting and you are expecting an important phone call, let the people you are with that you are expecting a call. When it comes through, excuse yourself and step outside to take the call. When it is finished, switch the phone off and return to the meeting.

The Public
Many people rang in with their experiences, even one man who said he and his wife had brought up six children before mobile phones and they all survived without contact with the baby sitter.  Josh very nicely told him that it is good to be able to take advantage of modern inventions.

It was very interesting to talk about mobile phone etiquette on the radio with a lot of listener interest.

I wait with interest to see what topic Josh wants to talk about next week when I will be on the radio with him again.