5 Ways To Display Poor Phone Etiquette

Texting? Facetime?Twitter? Facebook? Instagram? Nope, phone etiquette. In the age of social media, talking on the phone can seem like an ancient practice. Many employers and companies may use other methods to communicate with colleagues, yet phone conferencing, calls, and interviews are not a thing of the past. Here are 5 phone etiquette "no nos"...

Hello? Can you hear me?...

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Poor phone etiquette could mean a first impression FAIL. The smallest mistakes could make other professionals think you are unprofessional or ignorant. Worst yet, it could make you the undesirable employee or colleague.

1. Think of the person on the receiving end as your BFF.

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For the majority of us, phone conversations are limited and generally synchronized to the person on the other end of the phone...and, we are generally talking to friends or family. Keep your vonacular professional, and speak using a formal ("I made a mistake"), rather than casual register ("my bad").

2. Eat while you are talking to them...who cares? They can't see you.

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You may think that you can "quietly eat"...you can't. There is nothing more distracting than being on a conference call and hearing others chomping their food or slurping their drinks. Sometimes the radioactive waves of the microwave can cause you to have a bad connection too. It's better to temporarily starve while you have food than to be permanently hungry without food because you can't get a job.

3. Be Melancholy.

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Everyone wants fun, supportive, attentive, and enthusiastic colleagues. So, it's a Saturday afternoon, it's your day off, and your overzealous co-worker calls to speak to you about a work related manner that "they just can't seem to get out of their head". What do you do?: A- Hang up violently, B- Let it go to voicemail, C- Answer the phone graciously with a great, positive attitude, D- Pretend to have bad phone service. Ideally, your answer would be C...unless you are drinking alcohol or out with friends where there is a lot of background noise (then, you should choose B and then call them back as soon as possible).

4. Answer the phone - regardless of the environment you are in and background noise.

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No, don't. Just don't. You may not be aware of the noise that is present in your background and you can't control what people may be saying. Example:

You: Hello?

Boss: Do you have a moment to talk?

You: Of course!

Your drunk uncle: HEY - IS THAT YOUR DUMB BOSS YOU WERE TELLING ME ABOUT?

5. Be sure to multi-task.

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No. It's important that you concentrate. Turn the television off, close your laptop, turn off your tablet, or stop driving. It's easier said than done, but while engaged in a phone conversation, devote your undivided attention to it. Furthermore, this will help you interact in the conversation; you can offer valuable input, rather than unknowingly repeating what someone else already said or only retaining half of the discussion.