i've found alot of people do this and it's accepted in alot of places but others find it really rude.
When i worked at Tesla everyone was on their laptops answering emails/ working in meetings. I don't think it takes your full attention to listen to someone, but i guess it's a bit different if you were just pitching him and not a room full of people.
> I don't think it takes your full attention to listen to someone
I disagree to this with every fiber of my being. If you're multitasking doing something that requires anything beyond mechanical tasks then you're not really listening.
I challenge you to actually try and listen to a person with a completely silenced mind. It's surprisingly hard.
"If you're multitasking doing something that requires anything beyond mechanical tasks then you're not really listening."
I often listen to podcasts and videos on 2x or even 3x speed because the speaker talks so slow.
When they talk slow and the amount of information they're relaying is relatively low or mostly familiar, my mind tends to drift and I can actually multitask relatively well.
It's when I speed up the rate at which they're speaking that it becomes more difficult to multitask, until at last I really need to concentrate in order to follow what they're saying and then my focus remains glued to the speaker.
That said, I do think it's rude to focus on anything else when one is interviewing someone. They should have your full attention, or you shouldn't be there.
"Walk out of a meeting or drop off a call as soon as it is obvious you aren't adding value. It is not rude to leave, it is rude to make someone stay and waste their time."
- During a retro decide to have a quota of meetings left early/skipped as a team action/working agreement.
- Keep inviting people as you are, but mark everyone as optional.
- No phones, no laptops (unless they're for taking notes)
yeah, but sometimes i do need to be vaguely aware of whats being discussed.
Rapidly changing from topic to topic but having everyone in a conference room while everyone is working is highly effective. People can jump in and give input on the topic they were half listening too. How many times someone has said "Oh, i have a supplier for that" or "I wrote a script for that".
The above example is really off topic from "He was on his phone while we were pitching" but i think it applies to the fact that smart people are actually really good at multi-tasking, bad a social ques and norms but you shouldn't take it as a sign of disrespect.
When i worked at Tesla everyone was on their laptops answering emails/ working in meetings. I don't think it takes your full attention to listen to someone, but i guess it's a bit different if you were just pitching him and not a room full of people.