Chapter 4

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Meetings as a Site to Negotiate Mobile Control

When mobile devices entered organizational meetings, there was a flurry of responses, ranging from strict rules to laissez-faire attitudes that sometimes resulted in misunderstandings.  Here you’ll meet Olivia, an HR manager who’s trying to adapt to her Vice President’s strict rule of “no thumbs under the table”  But her direct boss keeps bugging her while she’s in other meetings.  Cedric is a mid-level manager in a global advertising firm who is confident his constant BlackBerry use conveys how productive he is; but the President and COO thinks mobile use in his meetings hinders listening.  Four key findings emerge in this chapter:  (1) some managers establish meeting ground rules, while others are not so clear; (2)  subordinates using their mobiles in meetings are often oblivious as to how they’re being judged;  (3) people often multicommunicate—carry on two simultaneous conversations—in meetings to essentially be two places at once; and (4) concertive control puts a normative pressure on groups that practically forces them to agree to be always reachable.

Changing communities by capitalizing on research in communication technologies.