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Millennial Office Cellphone Policy

8,101 Views | 49 Replies | Last: 7 yr ago by Kool
tamutaylor12
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I think the level of the position is a big factor. If you are a service employee, it is almost never acceptable when you are on the clock. If you work in a cube or are upper management it can be more appropriate as long as it doesnt interfere with getting work done.
ABATTBQ11
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AG
This x eleventy billion.
Keeper of The Spirits
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AG


We partner with this guy at work and I found his take on cell phones pretty excellent. We are banning computers and cell phone from meetings, but explaining that we expect people to be prepared or not attend meetings.
JSKolache
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AG
We had a dude - since moved on - who plowed through something like 20gb a day on his phone. He got his work done, it wasn't a problem - but 20 gigs a day?? How is that even possible? We cut the cord at home over a year ago and stream TV all evening long, so we use a lot of data - but don't come anywhere near that level even with TV, tablets, & cell combined. Dude was hitting daily on his phone what we use in 3-4 months.
62strat
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AG
jake2011 said:

The amount of time people are on their phones these days is mind boggling. I was just on a ski trip and every millennial and many adults (mostly females) would whip out their phone immediately after getting on the ski lift. I mean you are in a gorgeous place in the mountains and you are more concerned about looking at your phone to see what Suzie posted on facebook about her kid. All anyone cares about these days is what everyone else is doing.
You are a bit quick to judge.. As soon as you get on the lift, it's a great time to check your skiing app that tracks speed and altitude, check the ski resort map on your phone to plan your next trek. Take some pictures or selfies (to post on FB I'm sure).. Taking pictures has always been a part of 'being in the moment.'

There are several reason why someone would be on their phone that is considered to be part of the travel experience.
Harkrider 93
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AG
just a matter of preference

I liked talking with folks, staring at scenery, wondering if stained white underwear on a tree would ruin all the bras and panties on it, etc.

My buddy loved to update me on the speeds, distance covered, altitudes skied, etc.

agnerd
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AG
Friend of mine worked with a disproportionately high number of millennials, and they had official "social media" breaks the way people used to (still do?) have smoke breaks. Idea was that if you're stuck with millennials, consolidate the distractions to small period of time and demand their attention the rest of the time. They outperformed their competitors, so I guess it works. Maybe something OP could try?

Seems like a stupid idea to me, but its hard to argue with results.
Kool
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AG
Thanks for all of the replies. In retrospect, I wish I had not put Millennial into the title, seems to have generated a bit of inter-generational ire. My office manager, an absolutely amazing Millennial herself, has discussed the issue with the office as a whole and with the offending persons. She does give them work to do when they are not directly in front of a patient or directly involved in a work-related phone call, it's mostly a problem of the extra work they are asked to do being done on their computer with the cell phone positioned in such a way that they can read and respond to incoming texts, etc., without her knowing it. It's not as terrible as the person I had working for me who had over 10K followers, but frustrating nonetheless. Thanks again for all of the insight.
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
62strat
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AG
Just to add, I know someone who is late 40s, and recently posted on facebook that from now on he will only be checking facebook first thing in the AM, and last thing at night. He was tired of constantly checking and subsequently killing time when a notification showed up, and breaking up his focus all throughout the day.


So it's def. not just a millennial thing.

It's funny, before he did this, he was talking to me about how he contacted someone on facebook, and it was 'like hours before he replied' and wondered why someone would take so long to reply when he knows you have your phone right there and you see the notification.



Kool
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That guy was awesome, I really appreciate that you posted that. Cheers.
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
CS78
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install one of those dam roof barriers that kills all cell signal inside.
Oruc Reis
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AG
The people who spend the most time on their devices in my office are both boomers.
Phat32
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AG
Irony of this thread is that most posts are during work hours.
bmks270
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AG
Give them more work.

I myself am addicted to my phone. It kills my productivity. But if I have a lot of work and a clear deliverable and deadline I spend a lot less time on my phone and much more focused on my work. It's a problem I have began to tackle and recognize.

You have to approach this like you would an addiction or bad habit and get the phone user focused on something else, or remove the triggers that cause one to pull out their phone, or replace the phone activity with another one.

This is a hard one to tackle. If I owned a company my approach would be some kind of awareness campaign. I wouldn't set any policy, but instead would put up posters or some other item to trigger personal reflection. Humans have a very strong desire to act in a way congruent with their view of themselves. So if you can plant the seed that they are productive and focused and not a time waster, and then raise their awareness of their phone usage, they will realize the phone usage conflicts with their view of themselves as productive and focused.

Studies have shown even a mirror in a room changes ones behavior because they see themselves. This has been repeated in numerous studies. One study put a poster of watchful eyes, and had a similar effect.

If you can change how they view themselves or increase self awareness you can change their behavior.
MaroonStain
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AG
I want to get back to OP. 1st - hotness scale of each concerning employee. 2nd - which one is PT?
Kool
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MaroonStain said:

I want to get back to OP. 1st - hotness scale of each concerning employee. 2nd - which one is PT?
As to the first question, it's hard to say, they are all so beautiful, each in their own ways. Question 2 - if PT means Part Time, then only one of them is PT. The employees I was speaking of are people who I would like to keep, just have their focus be more on their job while I am paying them to do their jobs. I am not interested in locking up their cellphones as my old manager did before I went out on my own (it looked like a re-enactment of Sophie's Choice), and I don't feel that they need to be terminated. I did have the one employee I wrote about earlier in the thread (2/16) with over 10,000 Instagram (not Facebook, my error) followers who I had to let go. When I offered her the choice of resigning or being fired, she told me that she knew she was not doing a good job and was expecting it but really surprised at how long it took me to fire her. I was stunned! She was 30 years old, a Ph.D., married, and yet she knew she was "mailing it in" and only surprised at how long I kept her around. The fact that she could not get to work on time or stay focused on her work once there never seemed to be seen as a problem to her.
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
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