Can you imagine a world without a smartphone? When did you use payphones at curbs and shops? I can do it. In 1990, waiting for an important call. There are two options. Wait until you finally get a call, or have your answering machine record it.
Or, if you are travelling in town and need to call the babysitter to ensure your kids are okay, find the nearest pay phone. For example, you work in a big factory, and your boss is looking for you, but it’s so noisy that you can’t hear the overhead speakers, so your boss sends a secretary around the building to find you.
With the rapid technological progress and the advent of smartphones, the way of life in today’s society is changing. Due to the instant contact society, people who do not regularly contact certain family members and friends may experience “unknown” stress and pressure.
Smartphones Some pre-accepted situations are not always accepted in today’s society. For example, whether you are an 8-year-old teenager, businessman, or parent, you rely on easy access at home, work, or school. Leaving home without this technical assistance will panic people. Some people say that if you leave your smartphone at home, you’re “naked.” However, smartphones have become a part of everyday life for everyone.
Therefore, employers need to be aware of this, utilize smartphones and provide specific regulations if these devices are used frequently if they adversely affect the workplace.
Several types of smartphone-related distractions negatively impact and hinder the concentration of many employees. We all know it well-the screens on our smartphones flash, vibrate, or ring, triggered by incoming calls, text messages, or social media notifications.
This directly contributes to the presence of distractions that affect employee concentration. It is almost impossible to ignore nonsensical or important notices at work. Ignoring notifications that don’t require immediate attention takes a lot of self-control. In addition, employees can easily have face-to-face conversations via SMS or social media. As a result, it often takes longer for employees to regain focus to continue work-related tasks.
Text electronic communication is the most wanted type of communication amongst smartphone users. This has influenced the manner people in today’s society to communicate with one another. Whereas at the workplace, texting can have a positively good thing about gaining faster contact of different workers and purchasers; however, it may also interfere with productivity if the quantity of your time spent texting is abused.
Some employees can exceed the common amount of time spent texting throughout the work day, which may decrease productivity and concentration levels. On the other hand, daily things increase productivity and decrease the quantity of your time it takes for tasks to be completed within the workplace.
Employees and shoppers can send notifications and updates much faster than email. associate degree email needs a person to be logged into their email account compared to a text message that’s sent on to a number and doesn’t need that additional step of “logging in.”
A date or time modification for a gathering or phone call will be texted directly to the individual to save lots of time and permit everybody concerned to grasp it immediately. This could be useful for people with unpredictable work schedules or have second conferences scheduled at the convenience of shoppers and customers.
Reminders will be set for necessary conference calls or meetings, which might send a notification to the smartphone fifteen minutes prior. Once productivity increases, it drastically impacts the power to multi-task to complete many responsibilities and meet all deadlines appropriately.
The positive aspects of using smartphones at work are crucial aspects that all organizations and companies seek for their employees. Smartphones allow employees and customers to communicate and contact each other quickly and efficiently. Prior to the introduction of smartphones, connecting with other clients and customers on their desk phones and using automated systems was considered the “norm”. However, today’s society is almost unheard of because it is easier and more convenient to connect to another customer on their smartphone since these devices are so readily available.
If a person does not respond to a simple SMS, email or phone call within a certain period of time, this person can be considered “rude” because they can ignore the notification on their smartphone. Conflicts are resolved faster when smartphones are a possible form of communication. Timely telephone systems or secretaries can convey errors or misunderstandings to upper management or employees who receive a message while away from their desks.
Establishing contact via a personal smartphone and avoiding the “middleman” between employees and customers can increase the personal feeling of the company and its employees. In addition, contacting someone on their smartphone can increase the likelihood that an urgent message about a meeting that day or even the next hour will arrive on time. According to the University of Kansas study, “Smartphone micro-breaks during the workday are productive,” employees should take a few short breaks throughout the day. This has proven to increase productivity, and more deadlines are met early or on time. These mini-breaks throughout the day allow employees to take their minds off the potential work stress and “refresh” their minds. The University of Kansas study states that “employees who use the phone during the day for short breaks are happier and have a more positive attitude.” According to this research, employees spend an average of 22 minutes per eight-hour working day on their phones. This statistic is about three minutes per hour.
The disadvantages of smartphone use at work are significant to avoid misunderstandings or misinterpretations in the workplace between employees, management, HR professionals and clients. In addition, face-to-face interactions have declined sharply due to the rapid proliferation of smartphones.
Personal relationships with employees, management and customers have been limited, relying solely on technology. According to the source The Negative Effects of Cellphones (2013), “Real-world relationships are compromised when replaced by electronic relationships”. Today’s society has become accustomed to communicating daily through SMS, email, and social media, as it is a convenient and quick way to connect with others.
This has a drawback, as nobody bothers to pay attention to the people around them. This affects performance, changes relationships, and reduces networking and business connections with others. As a result, smartphones have become a major distraction in the workplace, a major issue affecting an employee’s quality of work and level of concentration.
According to a study by Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction Lab, “researchers found that the average office worker sits for approximately 11 minutes between each interruption, but takes approximately 25 minutes to complete the original task after each interruption.” ( “The Negative Effects of Cell Phones”, 2013). Networking and connection are extremely important in the business world these days.
Long-term relationships develop from personal contact. Although technology has made it easier to stay connected, this has been negated by making it difficult to form and maintain relationships without face-to-face interaction. In addition, the interpretation of messages and the meaning of how certain words are typed and perceived have changed drastically due to the constant daily use of smartphones and similar technological devices.
Facial expressions and face-to-face interaction are important in defining how a person thinks about something. How a person texts or emails a personal friend can be completely different. “Have a nice day!” or “Have a nice day.” could be interpreted when composing an email to a customer. The exclamation mark creates a friendlier atmosphere in front of the dot. Either way, the employee could have meant “have a nice day” in a warm and friendly way, but the punctuation can change the interpretation.
Certain rules and processes may be more or less appropriate depending on the size of the firm and its culture. Choosing a policy that isn’t tailored to the company’s culture might put employees at risk and harm their morale and productivity.