There’s an interesting article on CBS News (originally from the Christian Science Monitor) about Etiquette’s Electronic Frontier. It complains that:

Perhaps the biggest etiquette offenders, hand-held devices allow users to check e-mail, search the Web, send text messages, and make phone calls. These gadgets “are causing normally polite people to commit egregious breaches of decorum,” says Peter Handal, chairman of Dale Carnegie Training. “At meetings, people tend to get really annoyed by the use of BlackBerrys. I often see other people rolling their eyes.

Nearly everyone at a client of mine carries a laptop with them everywhere. I’ve been to a number of meetings where five out of six attendees is sitting behind their screen typing through the entire meeting. Presumably they are checking email or preparing their expense claims or something. Why not have a phone conference and end the charade?

To be honest, though, I don’t know whether this is more about rudeness, about the work pressure these people are under or about the basic futility and time-wasting of most meetings.

It’s not uncommon for some companies - and I’ve worked in and for a few - to call a meeting rather than do something or figure out some more appropriate response. For me, meetings aren’t work. They’re like a tax on work. But it has taken me a long time to figure this out.

The article ends with a quote that pretty much sums it up:

“Embrace all the new technologies, but keep focused on the people around you, whether it’s your boss, your co-workers, or your customers. Technology is a great tool to help you get to the people. But even in this wired world, you need to have the personal touch.”

P.S. I was surprised to see several adverts attached to this article for “Telephone Etiquette Training.” Really?