Let's Figure Out Once And For All Phone Etiquette For The Office

Is it OK to check your phone while talking to the boss?

Is this woman being rude as hell or what?

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Phone etiquette is wildly different in the workplace than it is in the social or family world. But workplace phone etiquette also varies wildly from industry to industry, and from workplace to workplace — what seems normal at one office might be considered rude at another. For someone starting at a new job, figuring these rules out can be really complicated: Is it OK to look at your phone while talking to someone (something that might be considered rude outside the office)? Not only that, but who gets to be looking at their phone? Is it OK for underlings to check emails while chatting with the boss? Or is it OK for the boss but not underlings? What about a business lunch? Who freaking knows!

This is an attempt to put a finger on what these unwritten rules might actually be. As always, the results are totally unscientific, but hopefully we can figure some stuff out!

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