Multitasking – Solutions for the Office
My last post looked at the dangers of multitasking. In this post I’ll look at what we could do in our office environment in addition to the suggestions I made in the previous post.
Life in the office demands that we complete a multitude of tasks within tight time constraints. The fact is, we can expect numerous interruptions, meetings, phone calls, colleagues stopping by for a chat, “urgent requests” and any number of other distractions.
Where open plan offices were seen as “the way” in the past, some are now beginning to realise that they actually have a negative impact on productivity. They have certain advantages if one wants to hear what’s going on in one’s team, or because they allow us to fit more people into a given space than if we had walled offices. However, they still mean reduced productivity in many cases.
Getting rid of or re-designing open-plan offices to be less open-plan is going to take time, so what can we do in the meantime to reduce the problems inherent in multitasking?
Meetings:
- Schedule these for 45 minutes: the average person can focus for this long at a single stretch and it gives them time to think about what happened before the next task.
- Start and finish meetings on time (scheduling them 45 minutes before the lunch break or closing time gets people focussed).
- Avoid scheduling meetings right after lunch breaks or on Friday afternoons.
- Insist that participants switch off all smartphones and tablets or other digital devices not required for the meeting (easier said than done).
Go “Offline”:
- Stop expecting (or demanding) instant responses. Just because someone can receive an email or text instantaneously doesn’t mean you need (or deserve) an instantaneous response.
- If it’s that important, go and talk to them or call them.
- Let people turn off email at certain times (some businesses now have a policy that requires employees not to engage in office emailing between certain out of office hours).
Recharge:
- Allow people to relax at a particular time of the day.
- Have “recharge” or “rest” rooms
On an individual basis:
Prioritise:
- Do the most important things when you’re fully charged (for me, this is from 7:30am - 10:30 am).
Work without interruptions:
- Set time limits for tasks or milestones so you can have a break.
- Focus.
- One of my managers was happy for us to work from home, provided that we agreed it beforehand, it was in the diary and we could be contacted by phone. This meant we could concentrate on that all-important report/presentation, strategic plan in peace and quiet.
Have “Thinking Time”:
- Use this for long-term, strategic planning in another area away from your workspace.
Take Holidays:
- Disconnect entirely from the office. You have a right to relax and it’s necessary for your health.
- Your colleagues between them should be able to manage most things if you’ve briefed them properly.
- Turn off the phone.
For every multitasking issue there’s usually a solution – all it takes is a willingness on all sides to understand it and make it work. In the end, no manager should want an unproductive team.
I have spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My websiteprovides a full picture of my portfolio of services. For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.
Labels: Leadership, Productivity, Teamwork
posted by William Martin @ 10:45
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