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Question of the Week

Do You Check Your PDA During Meetings?

Posted Jun 24, 2009 1:10 PM CST
By Sarah Randag

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The ubiquity of BlackBerrys and iPhones is still new enough that etiquette lines regarding their use have not been drawn. The New York Times says that two major Hollywood talent agencies ban BlackBerry use at meetings, while a New York talent agency has a green policy instructing that meeting notes be taken on PDAs rather than on paper. At some companies, PDAs are a “yes” at staff meetings but a “no” at client meetings—although, of course, sometimes the clients themselves are liable to be tapping away during appointments.

That got us thinking …

Do you check your PDA during meetings? Does your firm have a policy one way or the other? Should your firm have a policy that either bans or accepts them in all settings?

Answer in the comments below.

Read the answers to last week’s question: What’s the Most Bizarre Memo You’ve Ever Received?

Featured answer:

Posted by Anonymous: “I worked as a paralegal before going to law school, so these anecdotes come from the mid-1990s when I worked for a midsize firm in the South. The nonattorney staff manager was a bit of a tyrant. I don’t remember exactly how they were worded, but there’s the gist of the two most notorious things I remember:

"1) The staff being reminded that we need to keep up a professional appearance; knee-length skirts and pantyhose are preferred for the ladies. With the exception of secretary Patricia who has a note from her doctor because of a medical condition, authorizing her to dress like that. The rest of us were by no means to get the idea that we could wear a 'glorified tracksuit' like Patricia did.

"2) A certain popular mid-priced restaurant close to our office was for attorneys only. The attorneys didn’t want to be seated next to staff when they went out to eat, so we were requested to stay away.”

Comments

1.

Thomas Tuft
Jun 26, 2009 7:05 AM CST

The attorneys in our firm have iPhones.  These are banned at staff meetings.  It is very distracting to hear the buzz of a new text or e-mail and it is irresistible to want to see who sent it.  These meetings are very expensive for the firm, and we need everyone’s undivided attention.

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2.

Hadley V. Baxendale
Jun 26, 2009 7:27 AM CST

Checking PDA’s while in a meeting or conversation is the modern version of the rudeness of checking your watch.  Answering the PDA is the modern version of shaking your watch and holding it to your ear. As one would announce at the beginning of the meeting that one has an appointment soon, one should beg the group’s pardon if one must stay alert for a crucial message. One should not request this “pass” often.
And for Pete’s sake, never answer a call during a meeting. You are not that important and everyone else knows that.

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3.

Corporate Attorney (former law firm partner)
Jun 26, 2009 8:16 AM CST

Modern etiquette dictates that you turn off the sound and not look at it, and pay attention to the meeting and presenter.  However, if the presenter/meeting goes off course and is wasting your and everyone else’s time, then obviously checking your PDA lets the presenter know your disinterest.

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4.

Me
Jun 26, 2009 8:25 AM CST

My mid-sized corporate firm doesn’t have a policy.

My own policy is to not look at it unless I am expecting an important message or call, in which case I explain at the beginning of the meeting that I am expecting an important message and I apologize in advance that I will be checking my blackberry when it vibrates.

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5.

Me
Jun 26, 2009 8:27 AM CST

In regards to Hadley’s message, I find there is actually a reverse correlation between importance and the ability to ignore messages.

The 1st-year associate doesn’t have the luxury of ignoring a senior partner’s message the way the managing partner would.

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6.

Duh
Jun 26, 2009 8:43 AM CST

My firm knows better than putting in place rules that don’t fit every situation.  We rely on people to exercise good judgment.  Of course I will leave a training meeting to take a client call, and will leave my phone in silent mode when meeting with a client.  Is common sense dead?

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7.

HVB
Jun 26, 2009 9:15 AM CST

#6 Duh:  Yes. So are courtesy, good manners and the ideas of reasonable availability and reasonable response time.

#5 Me: Yes she can.  When the associate is in a meeting, she is unavailable. It is very easy, but may require retraining the seniors.

All;  Read Philip Howard’s “The Death of Common Sense.”

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8.

Liz
Jun 26, 2009 10:21 AM CST

I do not check my PDA in meetings unless I am expecting a message that concerns an issue that must be addressed immediately. In that case, I apologize before the meeting begins and tell the meeting attendees that I must check my PDA during the meeting in connection with an urgent matter (which often is an issue involving the clientwith whom I am meeting).  Frequently, I do not bring my PDA into meetings to avoid the temptation of looking at my messages.

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9.

Ellen Lorenzen
Jun 26, 2009 11:47 AM CST

I’m a workers’ comp judge and I have to ask attorneys to turn off their electronic equipment during hearings.  If I don’t, they constantly check for messages.  My favorite, though, was an injured employee who was checking his text messages while testifying.  I asked his attorney to hold his phone until the trial was completed.  I expected opposing counsel to ask to see the texts sent and received to see if he had been getting answers from other people but no objection was raised and I chose not to inquire myself.

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10.

Lydia
Jun 26, 2009 11:58 AM CST

While the etiquette is evolving, the general rule should be “Be present with the person present.”  If an interruption by another person would be rude or inappropriate, an electronic interruption is just as rude and inappropriate. 

I think generally, that would mean some staff meetings are OK being interrupted, others are not.  Clients can interrupt, but not other clients without fair warning.  Don’t make the person “in your face” less important than the person contacting you electronically unless they are, and you don’t care if they know it.

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11.

Zeather
Jun 26, 2009 12:35 PM CST

Using your PDA during a meeting just gives away the fact that you were raised by wolves. There are ways to do business without being rude. Excuse yourself if you have to read or send a message. If excusing yourself seems inappropriate — especially because you need the information from the meeting — then you should not be using the phone in the meeting room, either.

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12.

Emile Post
Jun 26, 2009 12:45 PM CST

I’m an in-house attorney and had the pleasure of meeting and dining with the founder and CEO of a web-based company in California, a person I now consider to be a friend.  He had built the company from scratch and had some 30 employees.  All throughout dinner, I noticed his PDA did not sound off once, and I wondered whether he was carrying one as I did not see it attached to his belt.  He was completely engaged in the conversation with me, and we each exchanged information to our mutual benefit.  The following day I asked him whether he was carrying a PDA and he said yes (in his pocket), and that it was vibrating several times throughout dinner.  I asked why he did not answer as it could have been important.  He replied that he never answers his BlackBerry during meetings with colleagues and friends, and that if it had been an emergency, the phone would have continued to vibrate until he answered (which he has trained his employees to do).  In short, I was extremely impressed that this guy who built a successful company had paid 100 percent attention to me during dinner.  I follow his lead and do not answer my BlackBerry unless it continues to vibrate, which means someone is trying desperately to get a hold of me.  I encourage everyone to follow my new friend’s lead.

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13.

bg
Jun 26, 2009 10:12 PM CST

I work for a firm that maintains its caveman ways and does not issue PDAs, just regular cellphones.  Only one partner has one, and he just got it about a month ago.  There is a freedom in not being chained to a PDA.  I find it incredibly annoying and rude to be in a deposition and watch counsel constantly mess with their PDAs.  And if I find such behavior rude, you should hear what clients say after being forced to spend a day out of work enduring a deposition by people who don’t appear to be interested in a word they have to say.  People got along for generations without PDAs, so whatever it is will still be there when you have a free moment to attend to it.

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14.

B. McLeod
Jun 27, 2009 8:47 PM CST

I, too, have yet to depart from my cave man ways (or perhaps just my wild, hairy-chested hill man ways) to procure a PDA.  However, if and when I do get one, I think I will implement Emile’s suggestion.

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15.

JH
Jun 29, 2009 3:07 PM CST

For me, it completely depends on the type of meeting.  If I’m in a large auditorium with dozens of people, I will likely bring my blackberry, silence it, and check it once in a while.  I may even try to get some work done if I’m bored.  In a smaller meeting where I am a background participant, I may bring it, silence it, and check it.  If I am a primary participant in a smaller meeting, I likely would not bring my blackberry at all.  I also don’t take it to lunch or dinner meetings unless there is something really urgent that I’m waiting for.  I agree that there is freedom in not being chained to a PDA.  Of course, I am in-house counsel and don’t have screaming partners anymore, so my work environment is different than that of a young associate.

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16.

Texas Law
Jun 30, 2009 11:53 AM CST

Re #13:
I informed my most important Client (80%+ of my billables) that I would finally obtain and carry a PDA.  His response was that was a terrible idea becuase I would then always be chained to work and that, in an emergency, he could always call my cell.  I still don’t have a PDA and he is still my most important Client.

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17.

ellahi
Jul 1, 2009 10:12 PM CST

Agreed 100% with Emile (#12). I never bring mine in meetings and in prayers. It will be big change if this discourteous trend be discouraged.
Person chairing the meeting to be blamed if he / she overlooks and don’t censure the associate using or even checking PDA.

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