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How to Create a Cell Phone Policy

2010-06-30 15:37:30

Just because cell phones have taken over the way we communicate doesn t mean

they have to take over your business. Here's some advice on how to institute a

policy to protect your company from disruptive and legally-damaging behavior.

Despite their overwhelming presence in today s society, cell phones perpetually

straddle the line between modern convenience and disruptive nuisance. The phone

calls, text messages, pictures and other data relayed to family members,

friends, doctors, or even co-workers while on the job are the source of many

interrupted business meetings or disgruntled employees, which is why creating a

cell phone policy is key to preserving the (literal) peace of your workplace

environment.

I definitely think that employers need to be sensitive to the fact that cell

phone use is now the primary way we communicate, says Nancy Flynn, director of

the Columbus, Ohio-based ePolicy Institute and author of The e-Policy Handbook:

Rules and Best Practices to Safely Manage Your Company s E-Mail, Blogs, Social

Networking, and Other Electronic Communication Tools (2009). But you want to

have a policy in place to protect your organization s assets and reputation.

According to a 2009 poll conducted by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion,

nearly nine out of 10 or 87 percent of United States residents are cell

phone owners, and that figure rises to 92 percent among Americans with jobs,

meaning it s quite possible that every single one of your employees has a

device attached to their hips. As a business owner, it s crucial to develop

guidelines that can curb the boundless problems that excessive or inappropriate

cell phone use can create for your company. The following guide will aid you in

crafting effective language for your cell phone policy, as well as provide tips

on enforcing it.

Dig Deeper: Enabling the Mobile Workforce

How to Create a Cell Phone Policy: Who to Consult When Crafting a Unique Policy

To craft a policy that works specifically for your company, make sure you have

the right entities involved in stitching together your policy. Managers and

human resource representatives should be at the forefront of the effort, of

course, but since mobile devices grow more and more technically complicated

especially if wired to your company s e-mail server don t forget to bring in

your IT staff. It s also wise to consult your lawyers, Flynn suggests. For a

business owner, it s a good idea to run your policy past your legal counsel,

particularly if you re in a regulated industry, such as financial services or

healthcare, she says.

Once you ve pulled together the members of your team, here are a few questions

to ask:

What cell phone issues already exist within your company? Why exactly do you

feel you need a cell phone policy? Is your office environment too noisy? Do you

sometimes glance over and catch an employee texting when on a tight work

deadline? Acknowledging these issues before you get started will help realize

what you need to tackle when you start writing.

What types of guidelines are reasonable for my kind of business? You should

tailor your policy in accordance with the nature of your industry, suggests

Flynn. Take time to assess the daily tasks of your employees. If you run a

public relations firm, for example, where there s likely a necessity for

constant communication, your policy might be more lenient. A company that

involves construction or hazardous situations? Not so much.

What mobile capabilities do my employees need? This is a vital question for

IT, as they may need to install company-specific apps and software on employees

phones, or set up various e-mail or calling functions.

Dig Deeper: The Best Smartphone Apps for Business

How to Create a Cell Phone Policy: General Cell Phone Etiquette

While the guidelines in your cell phone policy should be specific to the needs

of your company, there as some basic rules of phone etiquette you should

include. Many of these rules might seem to be common courtesy or common sense

but explicitly explaining what you expect is the best way to get the results

you want. These rules should be upheld on all devices, whether personally- or

company-owned:

The vibrate function is your best friend. When working in a professional

atmosphere, the vibrate function should be a default. No one likes a loud

ringer especially when left unanswered.

No phone use during meetings. Instruct employees to step out to take calls or

send texts when business meetings, conferences, or brainstorming sessions are

being held. You may even ask employees to leave phones at their desks

altogether. Any kind of business event where a ringing phone or tapping

fingers can disrupt other people, says Flynn. Texting can be as annoying as

talking.

Letting calls go to voicemail isn t a sin. According to a survey of 1,500

adults by the Pew Research Center, 24 percent of them said they felt obligated

to take a call even if it interrupted an important meeting. Voicemail,

however, can be just as efficient in communicating with others outside of work.

Stress this in your policy.

Maintain low tones. There are few things more annoying than a loud phone

conversation, and that rings doubly true when people are trying to get work

done. Clearly explain to employees to keep a low voice if they must answer

their cell phones, or find a quiet area to talk. It might also be helpful to

designate a specific area, like a lobby or cafeteria.

Content and language guidelines. It s not uncommon for a customer to be

offended or even turned away as a result of an employee s expletive-filled

phone conversation. Professional communication is not the same as communication

at home, and your policy should delineate the difference.

Dig Deeper: Blackberry Etiquette: The Do's and Don'ts

How to Create a Cell Phone Policy: Addressing Productivity Issues

According to Flynn, the best way to make sure an employee s cell phone use

doesn t infringe on the productivity of your company is to specify exactly when

personal calls or texts should be made. Is it only during lunch breaks? Will

you set certain intervals of time? How long will they be?

It s not good enough to just say, Employees are allowed a limited amount of

personal cell phone use, she says. Use language that is not open to

individual interpretation.

That said, be sure to make provisions for emergency phone calls in your policy

after all, being accessible to those we care about is one of the main reasons

people take their phones to work. You can do this by instructing employees to

notify you or a manager of circumstances such as a pregnant spouse or infirmed

family member, Flynn advises, in which case the ringer can be set to only sound

when that person calls. You can also ask employees to inform you of the

emergency call afterwards, so that you know the phone use was a necessity and

not an issue of lost productivity.

Also, integrate elements of your company s social media policy. (Hint: if you

haven t created one, maybe it s time.) Most cell phones manufactured today are

PDAs, which have many of the same interactive capabilities as a desktop or

laptop computer. If you already have limits set on how often an employee can

sign into Facebook, that should apply to the cell phone application as well.

Dig Deeper: Ten Ways to Use Texting for Business

How to Create a Cell Phone Policy: Work Duties on Personal Cell Phones

If your employees are making calls, sending texts or e-mails, or browsing the

Web for work-related reasons via personal devices, keep in mind that this usage

is billed on their own cell phone plans and therefore billable to your company.

This is why you should include language in your policy stating that employees

should get permission to perform these activities. Since most carriers have

line-item billing, which shows the date, time, and phone number of each call,

many companies instruct employees to make copies of their bills and highlight

work-related calls, which would then be reimbursed. State in your policy that

these numbers will be checked, and that there will be consequences for abusing

reimbursement. Spell out in your policy that while you re going to be

reimbursed for business calls, submitting false reports is theft, and can

result in job termination, says Hyman.

It could also be beneficial to add a data plan, Hyman says. Keep in mind,

however that some carriers do not have and charge by increments of data, such

as megabytes or kilobytes, which can become an exorbitant expense especially

for a small business.

You should also communicate that the employer is not financially responsible

for a personal phone if it is lost, stolen or damaged while conducting business

activity.

Dig Deeper: Which Cell Phone is Smartest for Business?

How to Create a Cell Phone Policy: Company-Owned Cell Phones

Issuing company-owned cell phones to employees is a double-edged sword,

allowing you to maintain tighter constraints on restive cell phone activity

while leaving your company more vulnerable to liabilities. Here are some things

you should keep in mind when addressing the use of company-issued devices:

Reduce the expectation of privacy. The first step is to say, You don t have

any expectation of privacy with a device that we pay for and that we give you,

says Hyman. By reducing the expectation of privacy, you also reduce the chances

of lawsuits from employees. In one recent case, for example, an employee sued

an employer and won, because his sexual text messages sent on company-owned

equipment were read, after another supervisor told him that they would not

be.

Keep ownership of the phone number. It s crucial to include language in your

policy that states ownership of an employees cell phone number, says Hyman

especially for a sales-related business. You want to limit the chances of a

departing employee soliciting or talking to customers, he explains.

Frequently review monthly charges -- and let it be known. Individual cell

phone bills are a pain on their own, and company bills can be even worse. If

employees know their bills are being reviewed regularly, the less likely you ll

have overages and purchases of third-party content like apps, games, and

ringtones. There are also tools like Auditel that can help manage your bill.

Immediately report lost devices. As soon as employees realize a company-owned

phone has been lost or stolen, they should report it so that service can be

immediately turned off. There are also apps like WaveSecure that allow users to

remotely track a phone s SIM card, and erase private data. You should also be

clear on who will bear the financial responsibility for lost or damaged phones.

If it s the employee, be sure to have them sign an acknowledgement form that

states so.

Be upfront about GPS tracking. Many phones come with software that not only

allows GPS navigation, but also enables others to track them as well. If I m

UPS and I want to know where my truck drivers are, it s perfectly reasonable,

says Hyman, as long as those employees are notified that their phone contains

such software. Instruct employees to shut off the phone or GPS application

during non-work hours, so as to steer clear of accusations of privacy breaches.

Dig Deeper: Can GPS Cell Phones Help Your Business?

How to Create a Cell Phone Policy: Safety, Liabilities and Legal Issues

Camera Use: Most mobile devices today come equipped with cameras, and your

policy should strictly define where and how they should be used if at all.

For example, consider restricting your employees from taking their phones to

the restroom, says Hyman, recalling a client of his who sued her employer after

she was sent inappropriate pictures of a manager in the restroom.

You also want to reduce the chances of any confidential or propriety

information from ending up in an employee s phone and later in a competitor s

hands. You can do this by expressly forbidding mobile devices in the research

and development department, for example, or in the vicinity of private

documents or financial activity.

Public Conversations: Regulations that ban the sharing of proprietary

information should apply the same for verbal exchanges, via personal and

company-owned phones. You want to put some confidentiality rules in place,

says Flynn. Business conversations should be held in private not in an

elevator or airport.

Talking and Texting While Driving: Many states, such as New York and

Washington, have strict laws that completely ban the use of hand-held mobile

devices while operating a vehicle. Even if your state doesn t have such

legislation, your policy should completely prohibit drivers from using cell

phones during work hours especially in company-owned transportation. In the

event of an accident, an injured party will likely sue the company not the

employee, explains Hyman. If I m an employer, I can say, No, you can t do

this while you re working, therefore I m not responsible, he says. This should

also apply to operating heavy machinery.

Harassment: Don t forget to include guidelines from your workplace harassment

policy. State that employees should immediately report to management if they

feel harassed through texts or e-mails sent from another s cell phone. Any

workplace technology has really made it so much easier for employees to harass

each other, says Hyman. It used to be where you would go up to somebody and

ask somebody on a date and they d say yes or no.

Dig Deeper: Improving Safety Through Your Cell Phone Policy

How to Create a Cell Phone Policy: Enforcing the Policy

Any workplace policy is useless if not properly enforced. After you ve

solidified your guidelines, here s how you can make sure they re abided by.

Keep it updated. You should review your cell phone policy at least once a

year and review accordingly, Flynn advises. Electronic technology evolves so

rapidly, she says. Not too long ago, all we had to worry about was e-mail and

instant messaging.

Have training sessions. It might seem a little frivolous at first, but a few

training exercises or even well-enacted demonstrations could be quite effective

in illustrating the type of behavior you expect.

Explicitly explain disciplinary action. What will be the consequences of

violating the rules in your policy? Disciplinary action will vary depending on

the level of offense, of course, but it should be clearly described.

Have every employee review and sign it. Allow employees time to internalize

the policy. Include an acknowledgment form that should be signed and returned

to you. It s just like with any other kind of policy, says Flynn. They

should agree that they understand the policy and will adhere to it, or follow

consequences up to termination.

Dig Deeper: Acting Out -- Make Your Training Sessions Memorable

Resources

Read The e-Policy Handbook: Rules and Best Practices to Safely Manage Your

Company s E-Mail, Blogs, Social Networking, and Other Electronic Communication

Tools by Nancy Flynn. This book serves as a comprehensive guide in establishing

a policy to govern cell phone use, and will aid you in preventing instances of

data theft, training employees, and managing emerging technology.

At ePolicyInsitute.com you can find do s and don ts on electronic communication

in the workplace, and even download fill-in-the-blank sample policies to help

you along the way of creating your own.

Smart Policies for Workplace Technology: e-mail, Blogs, Cell Phones & More by

Lisa Guerin is another resource to help institute the use of electronic

technology on the job, which also covers Internet and e-mail conduct.

Studying Cell Phone Bans in the Workplace is an informative article for

business owners who might opt for a total ban on cell phone use.