The Sweets and Bitters of Technology

Written on 4:17 PM by O

Last week, I got an email at work from my contracting company warning all employees about the personal use of company phones while at work. The policy on this is that their employees should not use a work phone for personal matters at all. Of course this does not apply to emergency situations (or so I hope…And then again, what constitutes an emergency?). Although I would not mind adhering to this policy, I think it might be impossible for some. Perhaps an adjustment is necessary.

Working parents who need to keep tab on their children or get non-emergency calls from their family members might not be compliant with this rule. To make it even harder to comply with, there is no cell phone signal in the building which means that employees would have to go outside the building to hold a 5 second conversation if they need to. Not to mention the need for constant stimulation that is quite characteristic of millennials. What is one supposed to do if they have that many friends who feel the need to share a lot with them?

I am able to appreciate my company’s policy on the one hand, as it protects me from having to endure the carrying voices of other employees talking on the phone during company time. However, I think there should be considerations made which allow people to talk on the phone without compromising their work and wrongfully using company time.

If I ran a ship (any official ship), I would ask my crew to comply with the following fair and considerate requests:

• Employees cannot hold a non-work related phone conversation for more than 5 minutes for every 6 hours of company time. This allows working parents to periodically check on their children or children’s caregivers without abusing the privilege.
• Employees should keep outside communication to a “need-to” basis while at work with the exception of break periods.
• Volume of phone conversations must be kept to a minimum (no one else should be able to hear your conversation but you).
• No long-distance personal phone calls would be allowed on a company phone or computer. If you use it, you’ll be responsible for paying your entire bill for the month.
• Never take a personal call when you are with a client. Unless there is a very high probability that your wife is in labor at this very minute, focus on the client and deal with personal issues later.

And I think I would make a pretty cool boss!

What is your company’s phone policy and/or how would you make mine better?