is there a polite way to tell someone shut your phone off

Is this person an equal or above you?
Can who ever is hosting the meeting start by saying can everyone please put their phone to silent?

I think you could probably say to everyone in the meeting - can we turn phones off for a second while we talk? I don't think it would be ok to single out someone.

If the person leading the meeting is also someone who is also annoyed they could re say the part about phones off.

I'm not sure there is a good way to do it for someone above you.

I would never tell someone above me to turn off their phone. I would only tell someone below me if I have some authority over them.

I have a coworker who seems to be oblivious to how annoying some of her behaviors are. She does not turn her phone off in meetings (with coworkers or with clients, from what I can tell). We (coworkers and I)have said several times that she should put her phone on silent in meetings because it inevitably rings during them. I don’t think she knows how to put it on silent because she just shoves the phone under her leg or some other way to try to make it quieter instead of turning the ringer off. She is older and instead of trying to learn the things she doesn’t know, she just doesn’t do it. It is really annoying but I don’t see it changing, given that we have said things in various ways over the years.

Do you have a dedicated meeting/conference room where these meetings are held? If so, could you ask management (but not the offender) about posting a sign in that room re: silencing phones?

I think you have to have a relationship to say something. I would have had no problem telling my last 3 bosses that their phone was driving me nuts.

For a bunch of text notifications, I might say something to the room in general: "What am I hearing?". Or, if you can have a one-on-one conversation, you could suggest a watch for notifications, "I bet it is a pain to be required to answer your cell phone all the time - I was thinking about how much a watch that buzzed on your wrist would benefit someone like you."

I can't hear some ranges, so it is entirely possible that something of mine could be making a noise, and I would have no clue. You might be able to tell whether that is the case by the body language, unless they can still feel the buzzing.

Does your group have an admin assistant? A few times over the years when things have gotten ridiculous - like people listening to their radios at their desks without headphones - we've had ours send out a "reminder" of how to be a good cube neighbor, including "unless the person is standing in front of you talking to you, anyone or anything you're listening to should be done through headphones" and "remember to keep your phones on vibrate or silent during your workday". Some people are just assholes and think the rules don't apply to them, but some may have been oblivious and might take the hint. Our admin even includes a "Not sure HOW to make it work? <insert name of tech-saavy coworker> has offered to help anyone who needs tech support. "

Sometimes I will just play totally stupid and say "I am so sorry, I keep getting distracted by a buzzing/beeping/whatever-the-sound-is noise. Is anyone else hearing that?" Even if the person is right next to me and obviously on their phone or ringing it right at me, I will look around totally puzzled and distracted. Then, lather, rinse, repeat as needed, every time it dings, buzzes, vibrates, or makes catcalls.


The other thing I will do is privately ask the violator if they are open to the gift of feedback. That is a hard question for people to respond to with a "No" so it generally opens the door for me to say that I find the phone use really distracting and disrespectful to the meeting owner and is it at all possible to step out if a conversation or response can't wait until the end of the meeting.


If I am leading the meeting, I have been known to just stop the agenda and offer a 5-minute phone break. "Let's all take 5 minutes to check our phones, respond with an away-from-office, and return to the agenda."

And I have handed around a basket, made everyone put their phone in it, and kept them put aside for the meeting. That last one is hardcore but it works.

I would probably just loudly say, not directed at anyone in particular, "holy cow, turn the sound off!"

Such a tough situation! Wish I had the answer. I'm a K teacher in an inclusion classroom. The 28 year old SPED teacher who shares my classroom is constantly on her phone. It's awful. All. Day. Long. Not only is it completely against district policy, she's ignores the kids while she answers texts from her mom, sister, etc. She's left the class sitting there staring at her on many occasions while she stares at her phone. (You can imagine how that affects the management of the classroom.) I want to scream STOP IT but haha, I have to work with her for 2 more months.......