In promoting a week dedicated to work-life balance,Nokia Inc. has released results of a survey asking Americans aboutincidents in which they have been interrupted by mobile calls.
Youread that correctly. A wireless handset maker is holding a series ofevents about work-life balance. Kind of like Healthy Lifestyle Week,sponsored by Amy Winehouse.
In a surveycommissioned by Nokia, 53 per cent of respondents said they wereinterrupted by a work-related phone call or e-mail while in thebathroom, while 23 per cent were interrupted while on a date.
Theonline survey of 500 adults was conducted by M/A/R/C Research and isconsidered accurate to within 4.4 percentage points 19 times out of 20.It was not clear whether Nokia’s survey was intended to promote thebleeding-edge innovation known as “voicemail.”
So, there’s a 95per cent chance that about half the American adults get interrupted byphone calls while using the washroom. It’s true that some emergenciescall for an interruption of people’s waste elimination time – or otherpersonal time, for that matter. For example, if you’re the president ofthe United States and a hostile power is launching a nuclear strike,your staff might be asking for authorization o retaliate, withoutregard to the fact that you’re enjoying a candle-light dinner with theFirst Lady, brushing your teeth or engrossed in Soduku.
But ifyou’re the secretary to the executive assistant to the assistantvice-president of administration for Acme Widgets, and the associateoffice manager is asking for the file name for PowerPoint presentationon robust solutions, you probably won’t hurt anyone if you finish yourpersonal business before replying.
Pervasive wireless voice anddata services is a wonderful innovation. An even better (yet elusive)development would be for everyone to have sound judgment on what issuestruly require immediate responses.
