Re:I'm looking for a new job because of this
on
Life Interrupted
·
· Score: 1
Here! Here! Same thing with Nextel two way.
Two times the tasks, half the fun...
on
Life Interrupted
·
· Score: 1
We can if the tasks are simple and virtually automatic (think walking and chewing gum at the same time) but true, effective, efficient, meaningful multitasking is akin to jamming two TV signals down the same cable wire. You get static, not high-definition.
I thinks this hits it right on the head. Surfing and talking on the phone is not the same thing as juggling multiple large software projects while dealing with IM, Nextel phones, regular phones, meetings, e-mail, chatty co-workers, equally chatty bosses, support calls, etc.
I manage a small software development group, and I have found that reducing the number of "context switches" does increase productivity and reduce errors significantly. I also find that the developers' moral is higher. I help to do this by sticking to my guns and forcing our project stakeholders to evaluate the priority of their projects relative to each other. This helps prevent the "squeeky wheel gets the grease" syndrom. I also won't allow the developers to have Nextel phones or IM, though e-mail is necessary in this day and age.
The reason I do this is that I came from situations where I was being pulled into multiple directions constantly, and very rarely completed projects to my satisfaction. This is very stressful and does not promote good moral.
One last thing, as you may have noticed I have a pet peeve when it comes to Nextel phones. This is because anyone can interrupt me at anytime for any reason with very little effort. If the past the person would with have to walk over to my desk, or heaven forbid, dial a phone. Now a person just has to beep me when a question pops into their head. This wouldn't be so bad if people reserved for really important questions, but since beeping is so easy I'll get beeped regarding the most trivial things. Oh well, such is progress, maybe I'm just too old...
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Here! Here! Same thing with Nextel two way.
We can if the tasks are simple and virtually automatic (think walking and chewing gum at the same time) but true, effective, efficient, meaningful multitasking is akin to jamming two TV signals down the same cable wire. You get static, not high-definition.
I thinks this hits it right on the head. Surfing and talking on the phone is not the same thing as juggling multiple large software projects while dealing with IM, Nextel phones, regular phones, meetings, e-mail, chatty co-workers, equally chatty bosses, support calls, etc.
I manage a small software development group, and I have found that reducing the number of "context switches" does increase productivity and reduce errors significantly. I also find that the developers' moral is higher. I help to do this by sticking to my guns and forcing our project stakeholders to evaluate the priority of their projects relative to each other. This helps prevent the "squeeky wheel gets the grease" syndrom. I also won't allow the developers to have Nextel phones or IM, though e-mail is necessary in this day and age.
The reason I do this is that I came from situations where I was being pulled into multiple directions constantly, and very rarely completed projects to my satisfaction. This is very stressful and does not promote good moral.
One last thing, as you may have noticed I have a pet peeve when it comes to Nextel phones. This is because anyone can interrupt me at anytime for any reason with very little effort. If the past the person would with have to walk over to my desk, or heaven forbid, dial a phone. Now a person just has to beep me when a question pops into their head. This wouldn't be so bad if people reserved for really important questions, but since beeping is so easy I'll get beeped regarding the most trivial things. Oh well, such is progress, maybe I'm just too old...