Can you focus?

At work, I’ve had to deal with a few employees in one on one meetings.  My employees are all between 19 and 23 years old and are not working here to support a family or babies, so of course they don’t take it as serious as I do.  But we often have quick trainings or conversations about new features or products we may have.  These kids can’t get away from their phones for more that 5 minutes.  I start talking, they check for text messages.  They respond to me and set their phones down for just a few seconds.  I talk again, and they grab the phone and send a text message. Is the phone and the person on the other end so important that you can’t focus on your boss for 5 minutes? I saw this article a few days ago about having meeting without the distraction of laptops, cellphones, or Blackberries.  This seems crazy, especially to someone in the cell phone business, but to be productive,  I fear this is one of the few things that can be done in order to keep people focused on the task at hand.Over the last few years of being exclusively in the phone business, I notice that when there is an awkward social situation (like waiting in line at the mall) that I’ll take the opportunity to grab my phone and appear to have a new message, or even compose one.  The cell phone is the adult’s security blanket.  We rely on the phone for our comfort, and when it won’t work we freak out and get over-emotional.  I recently dropped my brand new phone and cracked the display.  It was gut-wrenching to know that I’d be without this stupid wireless device for a few days until it was repaired.  Cell phones have almost become an extra appendage…Oh what will the future bring?

~ by mogrant on November 18, 2007.