Image via Flickr user Peter Hayes

You are annoying your boss and colleagues any time you take your phone out during meetings, says new research from USC’s Marshall School of Business. And if you work with women and people over 40, they’re even more perturbed by it than everyone else.

The researchers conducted a nationwide survey of 554 full-time working professionals earning above $30K and working in companies with at least 50 employees. They asked a variety of questions about smartphone use during meetings and found:

• 86 percent think it’s inappropriate to answer phone calls during meetings

• 84 percent think it’s inappropriate to write texts or emails during meetings

• 66 percent think it’s inappropriate to write texts or emails even during lunches offsite

• The more money people make the less they approve of smartphone use.

The study also found that Millennials are three times more likely than those over 40 to think that smartphone use during meetings is okay, which is ironic considering Millennials are highly dependent upon the opinions of their older colleagues for career advancement.

TalentSmart has tested the emotional intelligence of more than a million people worldwide and found that Millennials have the lowest self-awareness in the workplace, making them unlikely to see that their smartphone use in meetings is harming their careers.

by Dr. Travis Bradberry

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