As a manager, when you talk with employees do you incessantly check your cellphone? Or, are the employees looking at theirs? “The iPhone Effect: The Quality of In-Person Social Interactions in the Presence of Mobile Devices,” was published in the journal, “Environment and Behavior.” It examined the relationship between the presence of mobile devices during social interactions and the overall quality of the interactions.
Source: PORK, September 10, 2018. Link.
The bottom line of the study: Conversations that take place in the absences of mobile communications technologies are significantly superior compared with those in the presence of a mobile device, above and beyond the effects of age, gender, ethnicity and mood.
Sometimes, the smallest actions can have the largest impact. Something as seemingly inconsequential as putting your phone in your pocket when you’re talking to employees could have a much more profound impact than you could have imagined.”