Your daughter probably loves a good convo on the phone! We all do. Friends, family, “frenemies” and everything between.So let’s drop three quick tips that will have her in the best standing ever! We want her to get applause when it’s time for evaluations. Because the rules of the workplace might be different than when she was a student.
Tell folks you will “holla at them later”
While at work, your phone should only be a tool. It should not distract you in any way. They are places you need to avoid using your phone. Places like the restroom, and in the conference room or when you are in a meeting.
I’m betting your job might have formal rules about the places that you can and cannot use your phone.
Stay on the safe side and tell your friends that you’ll talk to them after work hours. And ask your family to keep the phone calls to super urgent matters only.
And if your office doesn’t have written rules about the phone, always follow “Don’t use your cell phone at meetings.” You can use some apps to take notes or add things to a calendar. However, don’t text, call, check social media post, play games or even post your status while you are in a meeting.
There’s daytime talk and nighttime talk
A good friend of mine used to evaluate her wardrobe in two ways – daytime clothes and nighttime clothes. It was always a running joke – if I saw someone wearing nighttime clothes in the daytime, we would laugh.
Consider the same rules with your communication.
There is a way you communicate with your friends, family and others.
And
There is a way you want to communicate in the workplace. Even if they SAY it’s casual Friday’s everyday.
What does that mean?
- Avoid using emoijis even if you can have full conversations in it.
- Make sure your short message is the exact message you want to communicate. Full sentences that your colleagues understand are better.
- Observe how fellow colleagues prefer to communicate
- You may like IM or chat tools like Slack but they might be dependent on email.
- Or they may have processes like faxes (gasp! I know that thing still works) that you might need to watch a Youtube video on to learn how to use. Suck it up and do it!
People are listening even when you think they are not
A workstation is a place where you meet many people. Regardless of how and when you are using your phone, beware. People can listen to your conversation. Find ways to remain as professional as possible, whether texting or talking. While at work, assume you are in an open office environment. You never know the people around you. Respect your coworkers and remain as professional as possible.
July is cell phone courtesy month, so while at work, don’t bury your nose in the phone. Stay engaged, keep your eyes up. Using your phone is a clear signal in your mind is not at work completely.
