Texting, emailing, taking pictures -- and even making a call or two -- means we're on our phones a lot. As integral as this device and its apps are to our lives, there's a time and place for it, especially in professional settings. If you always choose a screen over participating in a conversation, you may miss out on potential business and career opportunities.
People often forgo chances to make great in-person connections because they’re too busy on their phones to notice what’s happening around them. We’ve all been guilty of this at some point, but awareness is key to minimizing this behavior and maximizing opportunities.
Consider the following settings, ripe with potential for generating professional opportunities:
Many of us feel uncomfortable initiating conversations in a room of people we don’t know. However, temporarily relieving your discomfort by burying your face in your phone is detrimental in the long run. No one wants to approach and interrupt someone who’s engaged with phone activity. Those people who are passing you by could be great new contacts, if only you'd look up.
When you’re on a bar or food station line, instead of checking Facebook or the score of the game, pocket the phone and talk to the person next to you. Need an icebreaker? You already have one; you’re both waiting to do the same thing, so make small talk about the refreshments. That person could end up being the best contact you meet at that event -- if you take the time to look up from the mobile glow.
Other opportunities to say hello (instead of hide) include when you arrive to register, check your coat or pick up your attendee badge. People are ready and willing to make introductions at event starting times. Those emails you were going to check can wait a few more minutes, can’t they?
When waiting for a meeting to start, are you checking email, stock prices or responding to a text? Everyone is busy and wants to be efficient, but consider if you really need your phone out. Engaging with others sitting around the table prior to the meeting is a perfect chance to have casual conversation or ask a question that may provide insights.
Those quick chats open opportunities to start or enhance a relationship with a current or potential client, colleague from another department, vendor or strategic partner. Those pre-meeting minutes are also a good time to engage with senior leaders, particularly if you’re trying to increase your visibility within your company.
When sitting in the reception area pre-interview, taking out your phone is a tempting distraction to calm nerves. Unless you're receiving last-minute information to help you make a more powerful impression, pay attention to your surroundings. You can learn a lot about a company and its culture through observation. Is there an opportunity to chat with the receptionist? Are there marketing materials to peruse? When employees walk by, can you figure out the dress code? How is employee interaction – especially tone and level of collegiality? You won’t see these things if you’re reading your 23rd article about interviewing (or completing the daily Wordle).
Sitting at a table for breakfast or lunch with people you don’t know is a great time to make new connections instead of refreshing your inbox. Before the start of a keynote or breakout session, chat with those around you. Someone to your left or right could be your next client, boss, colleague or great professional contact. If you’re unsure what to say, talk about the speakers, agenda, organizers or sponsors - anything to break the ice.
You don’t have to be at a meeting, conference or work event to put your phone away, start conversations and make or strengthen professional connections. Opportunities await when waiting for the elevator in your office building (particularly when there are companies in the building that you’d love to do business with or work for), traveling and in social settings (e.g. wine tastings, holiday parties, golf outings). In contrast, when you're on your phone, you put up a wall that impacts personal engagement and closes potential opportunities.
Remember too that if you’re "always on your phone," that becomes a negative attribute of your personal brand. If you really do have to check email before a meeting or event starts because of a deadline or other important reason, step into a hallway or corner away from the group, so it’s less obvious.
We’re all multi-taskers and phones are vital to our lives, but be mindful of your habits and their impact on engagement with others. Don’t miss out on key moments to initiate or participate in conversations and connect and build relationships. Leave the phone, not opportunities, on the table.
