Working life today is full of ever-evolving challenges and pitfalls. When is it OK to date a coworker? Can you tell your team to get back into the office five days a week?
Whether you’re a baffled Boomer, a muddled millennial, or a confused Gen Z-er, our brilliant columnist Nicola Horlick is here to help.
Dear Nicola,
During a meeting, I could not help but see that one of my colleagues – who I thought was taking notes – was sexting instead. It was graphic, and I should have looked away, but I can’t unsee some of the stuff, including the pictures.
I am not shocked, but I suspect other people in this office would be more judgmental if they saw this sort of thing at a client meeting, and would probably say something to our boss. Should I warn this person? Or ignore the whole thing?
Yours, Suzannah
Dear Suzannah,
I am very old-fashioned when it comes to mobile phones. It isn’t so much the sexting that concerns me but the fact that your colleague and others think it’s okay to look at their phones at all during a meeting. It is rude and disrespectful. It is also a clear sign that they aren’t concentrating on the discussion.
Yet people do it all the time, and seem to think it is perfectly acceptable. In my view, phones should not be out on the table during meetings unless someone is expecting an urgent call from a client or if they’re in the middle of dealing with a family issue.
Graphic: A colleague wasn’t making notes, but was sexting instead
If this is the case, then they should explain they are expecting a call and may have to leave the meeting for a few minutes.
I definitely do not think that you should speak to your colleague who was sexting. Instead, you should talk to your boss and say it concerns you that others are taking phones into meetings and looking at them instead of focusing on the matter at hand, without mentioning sexting. You should suggest that a note is sent round stating the new policy.
I know this sounds like a ‘school rule’ but the phone culture that has engulfed the world has to be brought under control. For some people, it has become an addiction.
There is nothing more annoying than someone walking along a corridor so absorbed by their phone that they crash into you.
Britain’s productivity is 18 per cent lower than that of the US and I feel sure that we could do much better if we were stricter about the use of mobile phones at work.
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