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FC Member Blog

Multitask Master

BY Heath RowFri Feb 13, 2004 at 12:55 PM
This blog is written by a member of our blogging community and expresses that member's views alone.

In response to a followup on an entry about time management, FC Now reader Piers Young remarks on the productivity decline brought on by multitasking.

Young expands on the idea in the blog Monkeymagic. Considering some research released in 2001, Young looks at time loss caused by task switching.

Naval research Daniel McFarlane suggests several strategies for mitigating the mishaps of multitasking -- and workflow interruptions:

  • Real-time negotiation Stan walks into my office and says, "Excuse me, I need to talk to you." I have four possible responses to Stans proposal for entry into a joint activity: accept, accept with alteration, reject, or withdraw.
  • Mediation Sarah wants to interrupt the Chinese Commodities Office for information. She calls her secretary on the intercom. "Please call the Chinese Office and ask them for their current price on rice."
  • Precoordination (explicit agreement) "I'll meet you for lunch tomorrow at 12 o'clock outside of Tony's restaurant."
  • Precoordination (convention) "We'll meet in this conference room at 1:30 pm the first Monday of every month."

Awhile ago, Fast Company touched base with a handful of effective and efficient executives to learn their mutitasking tips and tactics.

Topics:

Management, teamwork, Chinese Commodities Office, Daniel McFarlane, Fast Company Magazine


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Recent Comments | 1 Total

February 17, 2004 at 5:29am by Carl Fransman

Multitasking is a requirement these days, especially in international tasks. How many of us get calls at impossible moments simply because the sun just rose at the ther party's end? This - and an ever faster changing business environment - makes time management more a tactic than a strategic issue. Only very few among us can allow themselves to stick to strict timetables.
This, therefore, not only calls for a new kind of managers able to cope with these issues, it probably also calls for new management structures in which delegation schemes are flexible but clear. Time management has really become what we've always known but never practiced: a team effort.

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