Multi-tasking is Officially Dead

Do you work in an office environment where your boss sticks their head out of the office and yells down the hall, "Does anyone know anything about _______?" Or, "Has anyone seen ______?" Or worse yet, walks right in to your office (or cube) and sits in the chair in front of your desk to Manage by Walking Around? If so, I feel for you! And, unfortunately, in most office environments like this, it isn't only the boss, but because they set the example, guess what!? Yes, you are right—all employees in the office interrupt each other!

Two articles, one from the Wall Street Journal, and most recently this week, one from the New York Times that reports on research out of Carnegie Mellon University provide the one-two punch needed to drive the final nail in the coffin on the myth of multi-tasking (something we have been preaching at Apex Consulting for years). And yes, we know all the excuses... In our company people have to "wear many hats." Or, "we expect our employees to be flexible." Or, "here we only hire multi-taskers" Well, look, you can make all the excuses in the world, but the fact is if you are the owner of, or managing executive in, your company and practicing and/or allowing interruptions and changes of priority to happen, you are destroying the moral of your employees and thoroughly sowing the seeds (weeds) of inefficiency throughout your organization.

Probably the most telling data comes from the Carnegie Mellon Human-Computer Interaction Institute where they studied the effects of interruptions and changes of priority in the work environment. One key result they found was that, for those employees that were interrupted, their work quality was impacted by an average of 20%. Yes, 20% worse performance from those employees that were interrupted! So what is an owner or boss doing that is interrupting their workers—dumbing them down and eroding the work quality they could/should be receiving!

It is frustrating too. WSJ reports that research done at University of California at Irvine shows that interruptions, which may happen as often as every 3 minutes in some work environments, derail employees for an average of 23 minutes!!! And although interrupted workers seem to speed up between interruptions, their stress level skyrockets. Getting interrupted constantly can lead to literally getting nothing done during a day. I ask, how frustrating is it to leave work after an 8 or 10 hour day having accomplished nothing?!!? In this type of environment, the employee looses control of their day along with any business goals that day might have included. No wonder job satisfaction continues to erode.

Lets be clear here; what we are talking about is a workplace environment that allows, maybe even encourages (through texting, phone calls, emails, leadership example, etc.) interruptions. It is an organizational behavior; an organizational personality trait so to speak. And, as with all engrained personality traits, it isn't always easy to fix. Also, let's don't get it confused with other things... It is not micro-managing. Hands-off managers can interrupt. It isn't a condemnation of changing priorities and/or project direction. These, of course happen, but can/should be handled systematically independent of an "interrupt environment."

So, owners/managers, what can you do if you find that your workplace stuck in this pit of multi-tasking, interrupt driven behavior? As with most organizations, behavioral change starts at the top. You have to be committed to, and practice, a more disciplined approach to engaging with your workforce. Beyond personal behavior changes, let tools and processes be your friend. Instead of dropping in on an employee to provide a new assignment or get status, utilize one of the many electronic Task Management tools to assign/add to an employees "Inbox." This tool should also readily include real-time status reporting "for free" allowing you to keep up to date on any project. To change priorities, don't fall into the crutch of "fire fighting", but instead, use weekly or bi-weekly short meetings either in person, or better yet, virtually, so all are on the same page regarding upcoming project goals and activities. This, of course, will require you, as an owner/manager to practice proactive project and workflow planning. Also, it is also prudent to examine communications within the company—and it isn't always verbal. Do you see superfluous or redundant emails? Do employees use IM tools with disregard to, and/or without proper training on access settings? Do emergency meetings take the place of proper planning?

The above are just a handful of many things you should be doing to increase effectiveness and efficiency in your company. But start by drilling into your psyche that Multi-Tasking is DEAD and translating this into action, both for you personally, and in turn, your organization. This will go a long way in achieving better business results and creating a more satisfying work environment!