In a meeting your phone rings.  What to do?

Ignore it?

    Apologise to the people you’re with for the interruption, reject the call and turn the phone down/off?

    Answer it, tell the caller you’re in a meeting, and tell them you’ll get back to them?

    Look at who the caller is and, depending on who it is, ask the people you’re with if it’s ok if you take the call?
 
    Answer it?

    Say “Do you mind if I get this?” to the people you’re with and answer it?

    Or would your phone just never ring while you’re in a meeting unless you’ve forgotten to turn it down/off?

    Sometimes life impacts work.  And there can be circumstances where you need to be able to answer your phone.  E.g., you might have deposited a somewhat sick child in crèche or school while knowing that you might get a call to extract them. 

    However, notwithstanding circumstances, over the years I’ve noticed that people have patterns in how they deal with incoming calls.  I can predict that their phone won’t be on mute.  And I can predict what will happen when their phone rings. 

    Have you (a pattern)?

    A few thoughts for you to consider:

    Productivity: What does a ringing phone do to your concentration and that of the other people in the meeting?

    Relationships: If you answer the phone, what is that saying to the people you’re in the meeting with?

    But there is good news. We can change. And we can change because we’re an incredibly lucky species – one endowed with self-awareness. We can look at ourselves and we can purposefully make positive changes. We have a potential upward spiral.

    PS: If you want to receive content like this blog in my twice-weekly email, sign up here and you’ll also get my ebook – “Get Off The Hamster Wheel: The Smart Small Business Owner’s Productivity Bible“. You’ll read it in less than 15 minutes.