A Rude Future | Sales Management Articles

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A Rude Future?

Do you ever wonder what the employees in your future will be like, or what types of behavior
your future colleagues will display in the workplace? For some answers, look no further than
to the college professors today who teach your future employees and co-workers.

In a recent article by a professor at Drake University in Iowa, readers learn that many college
students answer cell phone calls, send text messages and play games on their laptops during
class lectures. Most professors consider this to be rude behavior.

According to the article’s author, however, the student’s rude behavior isn’t their fault. Instead,
the behaviors college students exhibit in the classroom are the same behaviors we all see in the
workplace and in the rest of society.

If you have a cell phone, or a laptop and an email address, the expectation today is that you
will stay in close touch with family, friends and co-workers, whether you are working at your
desk or attending a presentation.

It’s the same for the students – our future employees and co-workers. They’ve grown up
dialing cell phones, sending text messages, using email and IM. Even the youngest among us
working folks didn’t have cell phones, laptops and iPhones growing up.

Maybe college students are intentionally acting rudely when they find it necessary, or
irresistible, to send a text message or accept a cell phone call during a class lecture. Perhaps
their behavior reflects what a great many people do naturally everyday at restaurants, standing
in a bank line or shopping for groceries.

Playing games on a laptop during class may be the norm for college students today, but does
anyone really think it is anything but rude and inconsiderate behavior? Does this type of
behavior reflect the tolerance for rudeness that has become part of our culture’s DNA?

We tolerate rude behavior, and even allow ourselves to act rudely when we want to send an
email to a family member or friend during business meetings. Somehow it has become
acceptable to text message our kids, answer emails and even shop online when someone is
presenting new ideas at a department meeting.

If you’re wondering what type of behaviors your future employees are likely to display
in the workplace, look no farther than the current behaviors tolerated in most work
environments today.

About the author: Steve Chriest is the founder of Selling Up™ (www.selling-up.com), a sales consulting
firm specializing in sales revenue improvement for organizations of all types and sizes in a variety of
industries. He is also the author of Selling The E-Suite, The Proven System For Reaching and
Selling Senior Executives and Profits and Cash – The Game of Business. You can reach Steve
at schriest@selling-up.com.