Baby Boomers: Blackberry a distraction

April 20, 7:09 AMBaby Boomer ExaminerPaul Briand

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President Obama and his BlackBerry/AP photo

If you're bothered during a meeting by someone thumbing away on their Blackberry, chances are you're a Baby Boomer.

As ubiquitous as the BlackBerry, iPhones and other smartphones have become to check email, send text messages, search the web and whatnot, Boomers don't think they have a place during meetings.

A NexisLexis survey of white collar workers (lawyer types) shows that 69 percent of Baby Boomers surveyed say that mobile devices "contribute to the decline of proper workplace etiquette.”

They believe a laptop is distracting, as well.

Only 47 percent of Gen Y workers see what is the big deal.

The old school business thinking of Baby Boomers is that you shouldn't be checking email and responding to emails while you're sitting in a meeting. Your attention belongs to the speaker or the presentation, not the phone or laptop screen.

It's part of the business culture clash that exists between the Baby Boomers and the younger Millennials. The younger workers don't see the use of a smartphone or laptop during a meeting as being that big a deal.

According to LexisNexis, it's the Baby Boomers who have to get over it.

"The results of the Technology Gap Survey suggest a real wake-up call for today's senior management - the Boomer generation," Mike Walsh, CEO of LexisNexis U.S. Legal Markets, said in a statement.

"In today's evolving professional world, Boomers need to acknowledge that a technology gap among generations exists, and they must find ways to maximize productivity by implementing effective workflow solutions and integrated resources that address the challenges they face."

The survey shows that the attitude about the use of technology blurs for Millennials between their work lives and their personal lives. For example:

• 55 percent of Gen Y and 40 percent of Gen X workers report accessing a social networking site from work, versus only 13 percent of Boomers;
• 52 percent of Gen Y legal professionals think it is appropriate to "friend" a colleague on a social networking site, compared to only 20 percent of Boomers.