Tech Etiquette: Top Ten Faux-Pas Your Boss Wants You to Avoid

As Founding Principal of OPR, I've been doing research on relationships in the workplace for many years. More and more, the top brass is losing their patience with bad manners and poor work habits due to the misuse of technology in the workplace.

Here are the top-ten bad calls managers would like to see employees avoid:

1. Calling into a meeting from down the hall. Meetings are low-hanging fruit. Showing up is easy, and you get to expose your brilliance to your boss and colleagues.

2. Futzing with your phone during meetings. This makes you look impulsive and inattentive. And trust me, there's no hiding what you're doing under the table.

3. Prioritizing in-box tidying over strategic work. Research shows that operational busywork, while satisfying, does not actually lead to true employee engagement, and won't move business forward. Be proactive instead of in email defense mode.

4. Texting bad news. Don't do it. Facing the music will pay off.

5. Keeping the pings and dings on, when you are trying to get real work done. Each time you switch modes it takes 25 minutes to get back into the focus zone. Who has that much time to waste?

6. Wearing headphones. All the time. They are great for canceling the noise, but they are also very good at cancelling out important relationships at work.

7. Answering a phone call with an email (or text). Don't be shy. The phone can be your friend. Really.

8. Avoiding people. There is no work-around for getting in front of a colleague or client. Face-to-face connections build relationships better than a fruit basket.

9. Replying to all. Just don't do it! Do not reply to all! The "ok" is just not worth the extra email.

10. Staying plugged in 24/7. Even your browser needs to refresh once in awhile. Scheduling digital detox -- daily, weekly, monthly, or more -- isn't just smart and healthy. It's good for the bottom line.