Are you like every other manager in the world and hate it when people use their phones in meetings? Or maybe you're like every other normal person on the planet and use your phone during meetings to escape the humdrum? Well, apparently even the coolest companies on earth have issues with employees burying themselves in their phones during meetings. Watch this video for proof:
Cracks me up - the screaming goat is priceless! But a smartphone distracted team meeting is no laughing matter.
While this new Facebook Home ad is a bit over-the-top…okay…WAY over the top, it still highlights a rampant issue in today's corporate environment. The use of cell phones during meetings. You are hard pressed to find any business managers who are not infuriated over this issue. But no need to freak out, this sounds like a job for…a next generation perspective shift.
3 Sure-Fire Ways To Eliminate Cell Phone Distraction During Meetings
1) Don't hold meetings.
Get over yourself. Stop using meetings as a phony benchmark of productivity. Instead, only get your teams together over something fun and truly bond building (e.g. retreats, drinks, go-carts, archery, etc). Have the one-on-one meetings before the meeting and if you still 100% have to have a meeting, then proceed but keep in mind #2 and #3 below.
2) Leverage the technology.
Deliver the content or slides via mobile devices. Share relevant pictures, videos or graphs. Use free services like Poll Everywhere to get the team using their smartphones to poll and/or submit their thoughts. Pull their attention and engagement thru the device rather than away from it. It has become irresponsible to NOT use the tools of today.
3) Make the content epic.
Tell a story. Be transparent. Leverage emotion. Keep it concise and on point. Whatever time you have allocated for the meeting, cut it in half. Or having standing (no chairs) meetings which will inherently make the meeting shorter. Don't stray from the topic. Do the legwork on the front-end to ensure you have a crystal clear purpose going into the meeting. Don't demand but work for their attention. Make the content better than what any Internet cat meme could ever offer.
Use these 3 tips to CANNONBALLL your way into a new era of meetings.
Question: How else can you leverage smartphones in your next meeting?
PS: props to Facebook and Zucks for being self-deprecating in that ad. That's the type of culture that will attract the next generation. Stuffiness and taking yourself to serious is dead.
