I am working with a client right now, a small medical office with six staff members along with the Doctor who hired me. We are 3 months in on the 6-month contract which has very specific and aggressive goals that the client wants to see accomplished. As part of the strategy put in place, monthly meetings are held with the entire team to discuss milestones already accomplished as well as to regroup and keep the entire team focused on the stated goals while adding to and enhancing items already put into effect.
One of the challenges faced has been to get and keep the team engaged - sadly prior to my engagement with the client things were not very structured and each person did their own thing doing the bare minimum needed to get their individual jobs done. The client simply allowed this to exist, which meant the staff ran the office with no clear plan or intention.
Last month during our monthly meeting it was apparent that personal phones and their usage within the office was a huge issue. Constant texting and updating of social media accounts qualified as “work” while the actual business of the office took a backseat. Worse than that, being able to prioritize what was important versus what could wait until later was a skill missing from the team, and when I suggested everyone put away their phones you could feel the chill settle in on the room.
Sadly I’d wager that we all are guilty of this to some extent. Phones have become such a dominant component of who we are and how we live our lives, constant checking simply becomes a subconscious habit we aren’t even aware we are doing. One thing I do is to put my phone face down with the ringer off when I’m in a meeting. Confident that there is nothing that can come in during planned meeting times I choose to wait until the completion of the meeting to check and respond.
Absent that if I know I am waiting on a call or text that can’t wait I let the person I am meeting with know that I am expecting a specific call or text and that if it comes through during the meeting I will need to step away and respond. I know that is not a perfect solution but at least it lets the other participants in a meeting know that you aren’t choosing the phone over them without good cause.
But take that thought one step further, how often does a call, text or e-mail occur that really can wait until later. You know the one I’m talking about, the thing that doesn’t need your time or attention until later, or tomorrow or even next week, and yet we act as if we don’t respond right away the world will come to an end.
Learning to prioritize the events and needs of our lives makes us live better more effective lives. Having the courage to make someone wait for us to respond knowing that our response time will not affect their outcome is hard, especially when it is a boss or manager who is making the request. But ponder this, if you are working uninterrupted on the task at hand and complete it, you won’t have to come back to that task at a later date or have it remain open on your “to do” list thereby allowing you to give your full attention and thought to the person to whom you ignored earlier.
By choosing to be deliberate and intentional about your time and how you respond respects not only your time and energy but others as well. We’ve all had instances where we ignore a person only to circle back later to follow up with their request learning that they solved it without your involvement.
When I asked everyone to put away their phones I know they weren’t happy with me. Knowing all future meetings would be a phone free environment did not make me the most popular person in the room, I’m sure their displeasure with me made at least one social media post.
However, the outcome of putting the phones away can’t be disputed. Absent the distraction their phones provided produced a meeting time that had everyone engaged and participating in the stated agenda. And the meeting finished early which is never a bad thing.
The client now has a “no phone” policy for the team during normal business hours. That policy works well in this particular office as no one on the team needs their phone for any official business purpose. That may not work with your team, but that doesn’t mean your team can’t be more aware and more effective of how and when they use their phone.
The phone and the ability to communicate in real time is a great tool, but so is a hammer. Like any tool, when used incorrectly the tool becomes a liability for you and those around you.
I’d challenge you this week to manage your phone, don’t let it manage you. It might just change your life.
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