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

[Onetwobuckeroo]

I work in a corporate role. I do my job, deliver and go above and beyond. In a team meeting today, a message appeared on my phone from my kids school. I was still listening to the conversation but opened the message instinctively. Suddenly my boss snaps my name to get my attention, then proceeds to ask whether I’m in the meeting or on the phone?! I then instantly put my phone down, confused at their outburst but did say, it was to do with my children. (They don’t have kids).

I was really taken a back but 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. Boss said yes but now I’ve been called out on it, it should remind others how to conduct themselves in a meeting.

AIBU - You’re in the wrong. Accept it, you got caught, when in the boss’s eyes you weren’t concentrating
YANBU - Boss was out of order. You’re not a child.

YABU, personal devices shouldn't be in meetings.

How rude and unprofessional to be on your phone during a works meeting.

Checking your phone in a meeting is really unprofessional. Excuse yourself, leave the room and then check your phone.

In my workplace, you don’t check your phone in the middle of a meeting as that would be deemed very rude and disrespectful.

I don’t think it matters that they don’t have kids. You were in a meeting, your attention should be on that and not your phone.

What you should have done is excused yourself from the meeting, “I need to take take this message from my children’s school, it may be urgent, I’ll be right back” and read the message outside.

I presume if it was a message rather than a call then it wasn’t urgent? I’d always answer a call from my kids school in a meeting but I wouldn’t check a message.

Yeah, you were very unreasonable...own it and apologise rather than arguing back.

If your kids school is anything like mine were then they text for any reason and are rarely urgent. I would have been more worried about a phone call, not a message that is probably about non-uniform day or the lollipop man being off sick.

Was the message an email - the sort that gets sent out to all parents? Or was it urgent?

And you definitely won’t have endeared yourself by pulling them up afterwards.

You’re in the wrong, your boss rightly reprimanded you
So,apologise and stop,protesting. Take responsibility for your poor judgement

Depends on the overall work environment I suppose. Our work meetings are sometime quite intense etc but people still pick up their phones to check occasionally to briefly check. I don't think it's half as bad as people who sit there for the entire meeting tapping away on their laptops not paying any attention to what's going on, I think it's the height of rudeness and I have pulled people up for this before

Wow. I think your reaction will not have improved the situation. Of course you shouldn’t be checking your phone during work hours, or attempting to justify it after!

You’re in the wrong.
A text isn’t likely urgent

Sorry but i think you’re definitely in the wrong here. A colleague of mine does this often in meetings and I find it rude and extremely unprofessional, I wish our manager would call him out on it.

I can’t seriously believe you think the boss is in any way wrong.
You don’t get your phone out, in paid work time, in a meeting with anyone, let alone the boss!

I’ve fallen for a windup again, haven’t I? 🙄

Totally unprofessional to be on your phone in a work meeting. Obviously it would be fine to excuse yourself if you thought school needed you. Otherwise phone is away from you!

Ok interesting. Thanks everyone.

I was taken aback at the time, but you’ve helped me understand I was wrong on reflection.

I’ve been there a long time, perhaps too long, and therefore needed pulling back in line.

Do you really need to ask?

Of course you should not be checking your personal phone during work meeting.

It is rude and really disrespectful to everyone who is part of that meeting.

You’re in the wrong. We all do it but you got pulled up on it. Take it on the chin, move on.

Well speaking as someone actually has lots of work meetings unlike many of the pp it would seem, of course people quickly check their phones, personal or work, during meetings if a message arrives.
Sat there scrolling on their phone, or in with a client, of course not. A quick check of a message or new email, no problem.

This is more what I meant. But as I said above, on reflection I was wrong.

You pulled your boss up on it? You were the one in the wrong you have no right to pull anyone up for anything. You didn’t even apologise for disturbing the meeting. Surely the school would actually of rang you had there of been an issue?

I'm going to go against the grain here and say it sounds like the way your boss handled it was disrespectful. If everyone is often distracted by messages in meetings, then why pick on you specifically? I think he could have said something to you quietly after the meeting, or maybe raised the issue as an AOB item at the end of the meeting, not mentioning names, but explaining that the habit of staff to be on their phones during team meetings needs to stop.

I don't really think that making an example of you was appropriate or professional. But then you have to remember that most people have no idea how to manage a team, so don't give them any ammunition to attack you with.