Re: [Coworking] Question re: cell phones and ringers
Alex, Definitely appreciate the crowdsourcing for the best solution tip. We have a set of community norms we ask people to learn an out of resepct for fellow members agree to follow - all common sense things we learned in kindergarten. This feels much better than having a list of arbitrary rules that someone is then in charge of enforcing. The last thing I ever want to be equated with as a community manager is a traffic cop. UGH! Best, iris On Sep 17, 2010, at 9:02 AM, Alex Hillman wrote: Why not encourage that members (not only the one complaining, but the entire collective membership) to suggest a solution that works for them rather than prescribe a policy just because someone complained? The thing to avoid, IMHO, is heading down the path of the way corporate offices work: rules are in place because something happened once, and over time, people forget why the rule was put there in the first place. Instead of a rule, go to the root of the problem: people with noisy ringtones probably don't even realize that they're bothering others. Most people are reasonable, and if the discussion even happens, the offenders will likely be more cognizant of their ringtones in the first place...and the problem will begin to solve itself. -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Thu, Sep 16, 2010 at 7:30 PM, Iris Kavanagh iriskavan...@gmail.com wrote: Hey there fellow coworking peeps, I have an issue I am sure many of you have dealt with and am interested in hearing some of your ways of handling it: In the days of cell phones with with various ringtones we have a new adventure in establishing etiquette, some establishments ban cell phones all together, others require them to be silent only. In coworking spaces cell phones are a necessity, entrepreneurs must use them to conduct business, so banning them is out of the question. But everyone has a personal threshold for how loud they set their phone and what types of ringtones they choose to use. Personally, I like a ring that sounds like a phone, or is as unobtrusive as possible. I received a complaint from a long time member today about the noise level caused by ring tones and a request to do something about it. I usually handle this kind of thing on a case by case basis. If someone's phone is loud and annoying I take them aside and ask them to turn it down, if they leave it on their desk and it rings incessantly I turn it off. So, my question is: Barring requiring everyone to place their phones on vibrate, what have some of you done to deal with this issue? Your feedback is very much appreciated! Iris Iris Kavanagh | Revolutionary + COO NextSpace Coworking + Innovation, Inc contact | i...@nextspace.us | http://twitter.com/slickiris | 831.420.0710 Local Freelance Camp Organizer/ Worldwide Camp Facilitator Freelance Camp. In Business For Yourself, Not By Yourself. Find one near you…http://www.freelancecamp.org/ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
Re: [Coworking] Question re: cell phones and ringers
Why not encourage that members (not only the one complaining, but the entire collective membership) to suggest a solution that works for them rather than prescribe a policy just because someone complained? The thing to avoid, IMHO, is heading down the path of the way corporate offices work: rules are in place because something happened once, and over time, people forget why the rule was put there in the first place. Instead of a rule, go to the root of the problem: people with noisy ringtones probably don't even realize that they're bothering others. Most people are reasonable, and if the discussion even happens, the offenders will likely be more cognizant of their ringtones in the first place...and the problem will begin to solve itself. -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Thu, Sep 16, 2010 at 7:30 PM, Iris Kavanagh iriskavan...@gmail.comwrote: Hey there fellow coworking peeps, I have an issue I am sure many of you have dealt with and am interested in hearing some of your ways of handling it: In the days of cell phones with with various ringtones we have a new adventure in establishing etiquette, some establishments ban cell phones all together, others require them to be silent only. In coworking spaces cell phones are a necessity, entrepreneurs must use them to conduct business, so banning them is out of the question. But everyone has a personal threshold for how loud they set their phone and what types of ringtones they choose to use. Personally, I like a ring that sounds like a phone, or is as unobtrusive as possible. I received a complaint from a long time member today about the noise level caused by ring tones and a request to do something about it. I usually handle this kind of thing on a case by case basis. If someone's phone is loud and annoying I take them aside and ask them to turn it down, if they leave it on their desk and it rings incessantly I turn it off. So, my question is: Barring requiring everyone to place their phones on vibrate, what have some of you done to deal with this issue? Your feedback is very much appreciated! Iris * Iris Kavanagh *| Revolutionary + COO *NextSpace http://nextspace.us/ Coworking + Innovation, Inc* contact | i...@nextspace.us ja...@nextspace.us | http://twitter.com/slickiris | 831.420.0710 *Local Freelance Camp Organizer/ Worldwide Camp Facilitator Freelance Camp. In Business For Yourself, Not By Yourself. Find one near you…http://www.freelancecamp.org/ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.comcoworking%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com . For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
[Coworking] Question re: cell phones and ringers
Hey there fellow coworking peeps, I have an issue I am sure many of you have dealt with and am interested in hearing some of your ways of handling it: In the days of cell phones with with various ringtones we have a new adventure in establishing etiquette, some establishments ban cell phones all together, others require them to be silent only. In coworking spaces cell phones are a necessity, entrepreneurs must use them to conduct business, so banning them is out of the question. But everyone has a personal threshold for how loud they set their phone and what types of ringtones they choose to use. Personally, I like a ring that sounds like a phone, or is as unobtrusive as possible. I received a complaint from a long time member today about the noise level caused by ring tones and a request to do something about it. I usually handle this kind of thing on a case by case basis. If someone's phone is loud and annoying I take them aside and ask them to turn it down, if they leave it on their desk and it rings incessantly I turn it off. So, my question is: Barring requiring everyone to place their phones on vibrate, what have some of you done to deal with this issue? Your feedback is very much appreciated! Iris Iris Kavanagh | Revolutionary + COO NextSpace Coworking + Innovation, Inc contact | i...@nextspace.us | http://twitter.com/slickiris | 831.420.0710 Local Freelance Camp Organizer/ Worldwide Camp Facilitator Freelance Camp. In Business For Yourself, Not By Yourself. Find one near you…http://www.freelancecamp.org/ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
