July 25, 2011 at 9:54 am
With a previous employer when we were working on a major project we would often schedule a conference or "war room" for a period. We would bring most of the techincal people in and they would not be at their desks. They could focus on the problem at hand and the other people also focusing on the same problem would typically not be more than 10-15 feet away, it was usually fairly quiet, and when someone had a question they could usually just ask it, but they would also be aware of what they other person was doing so would often wait will they were at a good stopping point. This method also often got others involved in a discussion that might not otherwise have been involved. When someone asked if it could wait then it usually was.
Sometimes it would just be me and another developer or 3 for 3-5 weeks of just heads down time. It was very nice. And very productive.
This also required people who wanted something to decide how bad they wanted it, they could send an email but it might not be responded to for a while, they might call (not often) or they could walk down to the conference room which was at the other end of the building (intentionally) to ask. The interuptions were greatly reduced and the number of drive-by interuptions was effectively nil.
All in all I like this method.
CEWII
July 25, 2011 at 10:13 am
The question is how to give the devs their uninterrupted time, and still have business process work as it should.
I've been at places that toyed with "no access" and "help hours" and meeting requests and all other manner of trying to limit interruptions and they all failed. On small teams with both support/maintenance and new development work, there's always a new question coming in, and developers might complain, but still WANT to be helpful, and the rules don't get enforced.
Besides, phone calls, emails, tickets, and questions aren't the only things sapping concentration. In a cubicle world, there is always a fair amount of "noise" for the mind to sort through when working through a problem. The most success I had developing uninterrupted was with flex hours, working part of my day when users were gone for the day, and fewer devs were still there. Working from home didn't work, as it brings its own interruptions and distractions. Being in a quiet office with most others gone was the best way for me to get "dialed in". But that obviously can't work for everybody.
July 25, 2011 at 10:27 am
Another great topic, Steve. In looking at most people's responses, it appears to me as though most of us struggle with interruptions. Where I work, it's just a part of the nature of the job. We're a small IT shop; we used to have 4 of us, until recent RIF's cut one. We have to support all of the staff, do the LOB development, manage our servers and databases, as well as do PC setups, answer phone calls/technical issues, respond to emails ASAP, etc. In the last 20 minutes I've had 2 people in my office to talk to me. I'm sure that's the experience of many people.
Kindest Regards, Rod Connect with me on LinkedIn.
July 25, 2011 at 11:43 am
It is a struggle to balance this. I think that setting aside some quiet time is the solution for most people. Many of the interruptions and questions, help desk tickets, etc. can be delayed a couple hours.
July 25, 2011 at 12:13 pm
With Outlook 2007, I can create "Search Folders", which are sort of like views my inbox. If an email is addressed specifically to me, or specific team members are in the from, to, or cc field, then it shows up in a priority search folder which I monitor every half hour or so. I have more than a dozen search folders for everything from company wide annoucements, to project keywords, and then notifications. Not only does it notify me when something important comes up, but it also provides a way to sift throught the emails when they've queued up all afternoon.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
July 25, 2011 at 3:29 pm
GilaMonster (7/25/2011)
Back at the bank, constant interruptions (developers, change control, management, etc) got so bad at one point that I ended up putting a sign up next to my desk saying what time people could next interrupt me (unless it was something like 'server down' or 'building on fire'). I told the developers about it, told my boss, told my team. Considering that at the time I was busy with a rewrite of some of the core stored procedures for the main system, I needed the uninterrupted concentration time.There's no need to bug developers every hour or so checking on what they are doing or how far they are. That's one of the things that happens at the 'client from hell' that I had, and is one reason they got that name. If the developers are loafing off, it'll show in their overall productivity, if it does you have words with them (strong ones if necessary).
I like that first idea. I also agree with the point that there is no need to constantly bug your staff. If they have to constantly report on what they are doing (e.g. hourly), that is too disruptive.
Jason...AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
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July 25, 2011 at 6:06 pm
Most people like to work from home/other room when they are interrupted too much or need a focus day, as most of the interruptions start with "Is person X here?" No.
July 26, 2011 at 8:05 am
Jo Pattyn (7/25/2011)
Most people like to work from home/other room when they are interrupted too much or need a focus day, as most of the interruptions start with "Is person X here?" No.
Even for those of us who drive into the office most mornings, we still routinely send emails to people sitting in adjacent cubes. Not only is email an asynchonous form of communication that allows the recipient to read whenever they have a free moment, but often times inquiries require the sender to provide detailed background information that the reader must digest before they can come back with a proper reply. Also, these back and forth email communications are good for documentation and future reference. It's easy for information, things like server names or ad-hoc requirements, to get lost or forgotten when communicated in face to face conversation.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
October 29, 2015 at 7:03 am
We just need to find that balance that works for us.
October 29, 2015 at 7:05 am
I am not a developer. However, as most of us SQL-ers do, I often have to modify or create code to work through and issue or project. It literally is the metaphoric train getting derailed with the constant interruptions. It is slow to start and build momentum. Once you do build that momentum, any number of interruptions can derail your thought. Then once again, you start slow and build it up again. It's so much easier to keep the locomotive running at a steady speed for long periods of time. What usually ends up happening is that the project deadline gets so close that a manager will cordon off a spare office, allowing us to work for a week or two. The key is to not let anyone know where you are! Set your IM status to "do not disturb" so your team can reach you in emergencies. This doesn't eliminate all disruptions, but it does help immensely.
For me, the worst interruption is the cubicle drive by, especially by the executives. They come in with grandiose ideas to shower upon you, VERBALLY, with zero documentation of the conversation or commandment. After the bombardment, you are left with trying to remember everything to get it to your manager so that he/she knows what you are now "supposed" to be working on. Luckily, I now work remotely (kids grown out of the house!). No more drive by interruptions. However, I've noticed that any IM status I set besides 'Do Not Disturb', is viewed the same as 'Available'. Looks like I have another leak to plug!
October 29, 2015 at 7:47 am
Four years after the article was published; is the business still bugging developers?
It helps if your IT department is using TFS or JIRA to manage requests the same way as other tasks. If a QA test fails or someone needs an ad-hoc query, they can enter a ticket where it gets prioritized, assigned, queued, and included in weekly reports to management.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
October 29, 2015 at 9:29 am
At my first real IT job I worked 10am to 7pm. It was wonderful: two hours every night with no one in the office! Got lots done then. My workflow was outside of the normal LOB: I ran the billing system and created custom reports, so there wasn't much need for people to interrupt me.
At my previous job, the IT director was well known for scheduling meetings at the moment you came in or 15 minutes before you left, so I set Outlook with a private meeting from 8-9am and 4-5pm. Since it was private, he couldn't auto-schedule me for a meeting, and he never questioned it. It was wonderful. It's a method that I highly recommend.
I think a cubicle farm and open office plan probably encourages interruption, and people don't realize how much it hurts our productivity when our train of thought is derailed. If you have a private office and can close the door, then you can create privacy. It might not help you against C-level incursions, but that's the way it is. Fortunately, in my current job, not only do I have a private office but IT (all four of us) are in our own cottage in the corner of the campus, so people have to really go out of their way to bother us.
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October 29, 2015 at 11:48 am
I wrote an article called The Cone of Silence. We use it at our company, and it really helps to get stuff done.
October 30, 2015 at 8:09 am
SQLNightOwl (7/25/2011)
Ninja's_RGR'us (7/25/2011)
What were the time differences?
They generally range from 1/3 - 1/2 longer for the context switching. I have one person (a mother of twins) that can context switch like crazy. There were no differences in her times, but she was definitely the exception. All other times I've done this the difference was very noticable regardless of education, gender or position within the organization. As a rule, the higher up the ladder they went the longer it took.
I wonder how much bigger the gap is for those who have ASD? And yes there are quite a few in IT and in a team of 15 I know of there are 3 with known diagnosis of Asperger's and 2 others which really ought to get diagnosed. Probable a higher ratio than other teams I know of but then again there is Silicon Valley;-)
October 30, 2015 at 8:39 am
There have been occasions where the door to the development team room got accidentally locked, and we all just sat there in the zone for hours without hearing the knocking. If it's important, they'll send an email. 😉
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
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