Episode #18 - Dealing with phone abuse at work
Hello and welcome to another episode of management woes !
Onirio delves, just for you, into all those delicate, sometimes seemingly improbable (but oh-so-real!) challenges that the world of management throws our way. In each episode, you'll find tips to gain some perspective and expertly navigate through your tricky managerial situations
In this episode, we talk about smartphone use at work.
Enjoy your reading!
If you haven't already done so, you can also :
Read all episodes published to date
Discover theOnirio team and follow us on LinkedIn
Subscribe to our newsletter to receive future articles by email
🛶 Today’s struggle : How to react to abusive phone use at work?
You are a manager, and you have a rather engaged and committed team. However, you are starting to be seriously annoyed by some attitudes and practices related to smartphone use in your daily work life: from an employee who pays no attention during team meetings because they're tapping away on their phone, to those who constantly exchange jokes in their group chat…! 🤯
How can you establish a smartphone use that respects the work environment and the individual freedom of your employees?
⛔ Watch out for dumplings!
Intensive smartphone use can have a negative impact on concentration and, therefore, on people's productivity, as well as on safety (dangerous distraction!) and health(hello addiction!). The question of its use in the workplace is therefore legitimate.
And it might be tempting but you cannot...
Ask all employees to deposit their phones in the morning upon arrival , in a bin or on the manager's desk 😅
Throw your colleague's phone out the window because they're playing (again) Pokemon Go or Candy-Crush during a meeting...
Completely ban personal phones at work: according to French labor law, the employer cannot implement a total and absolute ban on using personal mobile phones at work without infringing on the individual rights and freedoms of employees.
📕What law says: Abusive use of a personal mobile phone can be penalized, i.e., use that would cause nuisances to other colleagues or to the company. Certain restrictions may be imposed, in particular if the employee is required to customer service (e.g. in a sales situation in a retail outlet), or if there are health and safety reasons.health and safety (e.g. driving a vehicle, handling dangerous machines or products, assembly-line work, etc.) or for reasons of confidentiality (e.g. to avoid industrial espionage).
But before having to resort to legal reminders and sanctions...
🧘♀️How to react appropriately to smartphone use that you deem unreasonable?
Case n°1: With your employee who constantly has their eyes on their phone during your team meetings
1️⃣ Before reacting, observe and analyze the facts, as well as your feelings about these facts:
Is the collaborator's behavior recurring? If yes, is it a problem that concretely affects their work? For example, during a 1-hour team meeting, they looked at their phone 15 times, and you had to repeat 3 questions to which you needed their answer
Are the individual goals you set for them being achieved? Is their work of consistent quality?
If yes, there's no productivity issue here.
If no, it's a problem you can address with them.
Have other colleagues expressed annoyance about this employee’s phone use during meetings?
How do you feel about this situation? For example, a feeling of not being respected when you speak, concern for your employee, frustration about not sharing a collective moment of quality...
What do you expect concretely from them? For example, better availability during your team moments, improvement in productivity through - perhaps - better concentration...
2️⃣ Then, organize an individual meeting with this employee:
Present the facts (just the facts!), then share your feelings about these facts (your emotions and questions), as well as your expectations or unmet needs here...
Clearly express these expectations and needs for the future.
N.B.: we are inspired here by Non Violent Communication for those who recognize it (see ourTelling a team member they talk too much in which we detail this method 😉).
Invite them to express themselves on this situation as well:
Your collaborator may not be aware of the negative impressions and reactions they can generate in others by being so often attached to their phone (e.g., feelings of lack of listening, attention, respect, self-awareness, or awareness of others).
They may have personal concerns that deserve consideration.
They may need help if they suffer from "nomophobia" (a combination of "No Mobile Phone" and the term "phobia" to describe the fear of being away from their phone or not having a network). Yes, it does exist!😅 Here's an example.
Look for solutions together based on your collaborator's reaction and the needs they express. For example, agreeing not to use the phone during team meetings to be fully present, being positioned as a co-facilitator during team meetings to have a more active role and not be distracted, receiving advice on managing their time and attention to disconnect more easily...
3️⃣ Monitor the situation's progress:
Review the situation a few weeks later and note the developments. If the behavior persists despite your efforts to remedy the situation, then you can consider more serious consequences…
Cas n°2 : With the team members who constantly exchange jokes in their group chat, both in the open space and during team meetings…
1️⃣ In this case too, share the facts, your feelings, and your expectations during a team meeting.
2️⃣ Propose to rethink together the framework that seems relevant in light of your expectations and everyone's needs regarding smartphone use at work.
Ex: "When we are in a team meeting, several of you check your phones in parallel, repeatedly during the same meeting. I am a bit annoyed / disappointed / upset / uncomfortable about this because I would like us to share a quality moment together / have more interactive / effective meetings... What do you think about rethinking together our rules for smartphone use when we are in a team meeting and in our workspaces in general?"
Some examples of life rules regarding smartphone use at work:
Put your personal phone on "silent" mode (and not on "vibrate"!) in the open space
Take personal calls outside the workspace, in a closed room or a break room
Use "airplane" mode or place your phone out of sight to focus on important collective or individual tasks
No phone during team meetings (and even no laptop or table!)
Have a rotating facilitator for the team meeting to make it more interactive
No personal phones during specific time slots
Use personal phones only during break times
Collective "detox" half-day without personal phone
...
In conclusion
Whether we like it or not, the smartphone is a reality we must deal with. If its use at work becomes problematic, the most effective solution is to co-create usage rules with your team!
À for the next episode!
In each episode, Onirio explores a managerial situation and gives you advice on how to take a step back and adopt the right reflexes!
To find all the episodes already published, go to here !
To find out what's next for management, you can follow us on our LinkedIn page.
Have you experienced managerial difficulties? Inspire us!
We're sure you've been in plenty of situations that would merit an article 😉. And we're always looking for inspiration for our next episodes. So drop us a line with a description of your troubles! We'll be delighted to explore your situations!
This management situation explored with 💙 by Onirio was brought to you by Celia Santiago.