By Chuck Jacobs
Among the most insidious enemies of workplace productivity are unnecessary interruptions. Managers spend up to three hours a day on average dealing with interruptions, according to the Inventory of Management Skills (™), a research study conducted by Priority Management. Imagine the productivity gains if you could reduce the interruptions by even one half!
The best way to deal with interruptions is to take control. By using these techniques, you can gain undisturbed productive time.
1. Set "office hours"
Some people set aside a certain period of time when they are not to be disturbed, such as 8-9 a.m. every morning or Thursday afternoon. Program your voicemail to indicate you're in an appointment or ask your receptionist to pass on the same message.
2. Just say "No"
Take control. If you are working on a task that is more important than the interruption, ask the interrupter to come back at a specific time later in the day.
3. Communicate clearly
To reduce the length of interruptions, stand up - stand-up meetings take only 75 per cent of the time sit-down meetings take. Communicate your unwillingness to continue a conversation through body language - glancing at your watch, gathering materials on your desk or turning towards your
computer screen. Or simply tell co-workers when you need quiet time to complete a task.
4. "Bundle" meetings
By scheduling regular meetings with key people, you can stave off interruptions from them and deal with several issues in a single meeting.
5. Practise what you preach
Stop and question whether the question you have for someone is worth interrupting her, or if it can be put on a list of issues to be addressed later. Encourage co-workers to practise this technique.
6. Make technology your slave
...instead of the reverse. If you retrieved every e-mail as soon as it was sent, answered every phone call every time it rang and dealt with every new fax the instant it hit your desk, you could easily spend your day reacting instead of focusing on your priorities. Allow your voice-mail to pick up messages if you are in the middle of an important project. Schedule time to review e-mails only once or twice each day. Consider whether a round of "telephone tag" could be short-circuited with a simple e-mail exchange.
7. Control the clutter
Every piece of paper that you can see when you sit at your desk will interrupt you five to 15 times per day. Working from a clean desk will save the average office worker a half hour per day.
Chuck Jacobs is President of Priority Management - Sudbury.
