Blackberries and other Smartphones have On/Off switches, and the ability to put them in Silent or Vibrate modes; yet few people have the presence of mind, or willpower, or even awareness, to use these capabilities when entering a location where the ringing and buzzing may be harmful – notably classrooms and meetings. Something stronger is required, and I saw it recently.
I went to give a workshop to a management staff at a large company, and I observed a delightful act of conscious control: when going into the room, everyone left their phones on a table at the door, placing each device on a piece of paper with the owner’s name on it to avoid confusion upon retrieval. Clearly this was standard practice with this staff; they, or their manager, had decided to put an end to handheld interruptions and surreptitious email checking, to enable a distraction-free meeting. Wayda go!…
I certainly recommend any team consider such a standard of behavior; all it takes is a firm manager and some peer pressure. One team that isn’t awaiting my advice is a team of some importance – US president Barack Obama’s cabinet. You can see here a photo of their hi-tech system for marking the devices, which must be left in a basket before entering the meetings. If they can do it, so can you!
I used to teach Junior College and used to state in the syllabus (and read aloud at the beginning of every semester) that if a cellphone rang during class, your grade would be lowered by one full grade. If a student answered a cell call or text (or listened to an ipod), they would automatically fail the class. Students still did it (and several failed). It was a huge problem.