BlackBerrys in Meetings: Take Notes, Feign Interest

Editor's note: If you have a pressing business-etiquette question for Miss Conduct, please send her an email.

If all meetings were run by Miss Conduct's beloved ex-boss, everyone in attendance would immediately turn off their cell phones and electronic devices for fear of missing an exciting new development in the discussion.

But meetings being what they usually are -- an excuse for the perfect boss to hear his or her own mellifluous voice -- Miss Conduct recognizes that the mePhone or CrackBerry could be the only thing keeping you awake.

So how can polite employees use their time, presence and electronics wisely? Or rather, how can one do something so palpably rude -- say, turn away from the boss to check the electronic inbox -- in a polite way?

Attention, Please

First, there is the issue that many meetings are about face-time, not information.

When you're at a meeting, your priority is on making sure your presence is helpful, even if it's just as part of an attentive audience. So where's the Tree-o-Palm in this scenario? Some people use a pencil. Some people use a laptop. As long as your boss is happy with your choice of aide-memoir, you can use it during meetings to keep track of your notes. Sometimes it's helpful to use both old school and new technologies -- it keeps your hands busy when things get really boring.

That said, calling attention away from whoever is running the meeting is never wise, so you may want to keep your chip-based life forms under the table or off to the side -- especially if yours is the coolest byte-box in the room.

So does that mean that it's OK to check your inbox during a staff meeting?