Boss told me to get off my personal phone in a meeting

I would have just said, 'apologies boss, a message just came up from school and I instinctively looked at it/thought it may be urgent' and left it at that. No big deal really. You were in the wrong but equally I get why you were taken aback if people commonly look at their phone in meetings. You were probably just the unfortunate straw who broke the camel's back or he was having an off day.

I’ve never worked anywhere were it would be acceptable to check your phone during a meeting or even have it out to see a message pop up. It’s certainly not something I’d argue about.

Yes, he’s shown the boss
This doesn’t require private or discreet action She was the one on phone,boss right to address it in the moment when it happened

"but I did pull my boss up on it."

Is your boss also one of your children? If not, why are you treating them like they are?

("pull them up" is such a condescending phrase anyway, but when you are so massively in the wrong it's even worse!)

(They don’t have kids).

You lost me here.

I was really taken a back but I did pull my boss up on it.

And now I'm thinking your jacket must be hanging on a very shoogly peg.

This.

I think your boss was in the wrong to do this. We're not living in Dickens times, work has to fit around people's needs

I think this is a poor and aggressive management tactic. If there is a general problem with phones in meetings, send a team email to remind everyone of expectations. If it's just one or two, then you show your employee the respect of reprimanding them privately.

Your boss has shown you who he is.

You were rude and unprofessional

i can’t believe you ‘pulled your boss up about it' the only thing you should have done was apologised

It's happened to me OP. You have to say fair dos and do better next time. Same as speeding and paying the fine.

I did pull my boss up on it. I said ok, I was on my phone but everyone picks up / types / gets distracted with technology, albeit emails on laptops, work phones, personal phones during lengthy meetings.

I'm not in a very formal work environment and this certainly isn't the case in any meeting I've been in.
Occasionally someone might apologise at the start of a meeting that they're waiting for an urgent call, but they'd always leave the room if they get it.

Leave your personal phone out of meetings. If it is something urgent from the school make sure they have either your work phone details or the number for the office.

I loved that you pulled your boss up after your misdemeanour. That must have made things so much better 😀.

My phone would be in my bag during a meeting. So yes I think this is rude.

Been to plenty of meetings

It's rude to get your phone out and check it

Was leading a meeting yesterday and people kept checking their phone during it, felt like they weren't listening to me. Wish I'd had this boss's balls to call them out!

Oh the entitlement of some is off the scale. I worked with a woman who took a FaceTime call at her desk and got really stroppy when told to end the call or go outside.

We are quite easy, we let people have phones on their desk but personal calls should be taken to the kitchen or lobby.

YABU and it would have pissed me off to see you scrolling on your phone during a meeting. I can't believe you "pulled your boss up" on it either. You were wrong.

I'm shocked at the amount of people who have their personal phones with them during actual meetings.

Its different for us as we can't have our mobiles in work, but we don't even sit round our computers during meetings so aren't distracted by emails etc.

That’s so much more disruptive tho than a quick check and put it back down.

YABU. If I’m in an entire team meeting I may bring my phone in and put it face down, if I’m in a part team meeting I leave it on my desk with the volume up and ask a colleague to let me know if it rings and says ‘nursery’ or ‘DH’s Name’ on the caller ID as either would only phone in an emergency.

That said, my MD always brings his phone into meetings and checks (work) emails and messages when he’s not contributing so he’s not exactly setting a gold standard.

I can’t see a problem with quickly glancing at a message in a work meeting but maybe it depends on the kind of working environment you are in.

I don’t agree with pps who say that it’s always unprofessional to check devices in meetings. I have worked in environments where it’s totally normal to be on devices throughout meetings, often to look up things that are key to what’s being discussed in the meeting. But this was a personal phone and if there was an issue you needed to know about straight away then you would have got a phone call. So ultimately I am with your boss. Don’t sweat it though.

I think you were in the wrong but acknowledge that lots of people do it. I don't have my phone on me at all because I'm at a school. However, if I was your boss I would speak to you privately about it

Would I look at my phone in a meeting? depends. A meeting with the boss of my boss, no. A meeting about my work or a supervision, no. In a half day meeting with a lot of the team there, yes if I saw something urgent pop up.

I work before my official day begins, I answer their phone in my own time, I work over my hours on a salary so no overtime rate for me.
Their business infringes on my personal time almost every day now, so yep, I sometimes have to juggle home and work in order to get to bed time without telling them to stuff said job 😀

I would only take my personal phone into a work meeting if I were expecting an urgent call, and I would explain in advance to my colleagues why I might need to react.