Should Laptops and Phones be Banned from Meetings?

Imagine if you weren’t allowed to bring your phone or laptop to your next meeting. How are you going to get all your work done? What will you hide behind to avoid speaking?

What if you miss an important email or phone call?. We can’t be wasting time sitting around a conference table as our deadlines creep closer and our to-do lists grow. So we multitask. We do some work on our laptops or smartphones while still participating in the meeting.

Here’s the thing: You likely aren’t doing either task very well.

Research shows that trying to accomplish multiple tasks at once compromises productivity.

Just the presence of a smartphone is a distraction, according to Adrian Ward, an assistant professor in the marketing department at the University of Texas at Austin. “The process of tuning it out sucks up our cognitive resources to try and pay attention to something else,” he said. “We learn better without technology,” he said. Plus, staring at a screen means you aren’t making eye contact, and your body language can be off-putting when you’re hunched over a device.

“It’s a barrier and you don’t really know what the person is doing,” said Barbara Pachter, author of “The Essentials of Business Etiquette.”

Some companies are eliminating the distraction altogether, by banning technology in meetings.