What would you do if a colleague was commenting on Facebook instead of paying attention to your presentation? A friend of mine recently faced this dilemma. While her meltdown over the incident was wildly entertaining and worthy of its own Bravo series, she still has unresolved issues with meetings and attendee participation.

The scenario that prompted this post:
My friend, an attorney, was presenting to other partners at her firm about a potential class action case. During her presentation she had the attention of all of the partners except one. This particular partner was in the midst of several pleadings, so my friend presumed the feverish Blackberry activity was related to the partner’s negotiations. Sadly, this was not the case. Upon returning to her office, my friend found that the colleague in question was commenting on Facebook pictures of another associate during the meeting. Her response to the slight was to storm into her colleague’s office and berate her for being rude and inconsiderate. Her colleague then responded that perhaps she would have paid more attention if the presentation was more interesting.

OUCH!

Two alpha females in the heat of battle could only be subdued by the senior partner of the firm. The senior partner offered a resolution of “get over it” and “move on with the important business of your respective case load.”

Unfortunately doing so is often easier said than done. I, like other PR professionals, attend many meeting during the week. And while some of them may not be as amusing as the activity on Facebook, there is still something to be said about respecting our colleagues, never mind the potential of missing some important information, during a meeting.

In an effort to help meeting attendees everywhere, I believe if we all adopt these three rules of courtesy and productivity we can avoid future occurrences of hurt feelings and hostility.

3 meeting rules that promote courtesy and productivity:

1. Attend only if you will contribute or learn from the meeting
2. If you MUST respond to an email or phone call during a meeting excuse yourself from the room. (If you do excuse yourself, let someone else in the meeting know how long you anticipate being gone.)
3. NEVER tweet or post an update to Facebook during a meeting. (Chances are someone is connected to you or following you and will see your indiscretion.)

I admit I’ve tweeted during web meetings and responded to emails that could have waited with no regard for the meeting moderator or other attendees. For this, I apologize. I am committed to changing my ways and will no longer be seduced by the flashing red light of my blackberry or the call of social media during meetings. I hope my BurrellesLuce colleagues will hold my feet to the fire and join me in being courteous and productive.

If we can’t follow these simple rules we need to evaluate why we are attending meetings in the first place. Will any of you take the three rule challenge? Please do, and let us know how it changes your meeting “experience.”