6 Ways to Limit Interruptions at Work (That You Can Use Right Now)

We have a strange category of people at my work that I like to call Hoverers. Hoverers will darken my door regardless of what it is I’m doing. This is the first place I’ve ever worked where there is this culture of, “You will see me now.” I’m on the phone or talking to a student and there’s a Hoverer eavesdropping on the conversation. It’s just bizarre.

We have one who will just stand there in my doorway regardless of what I’m doing and wait to be acknowledged. No knocking, no throat-clearing — just hovering. Freaky.

I’ve started to ask the secretary to discourage hovering by saying things like, “Mr. Elias is on the phone – perhaps you want to try him again later…” But I have a hunch that some won’t respond to anything less direct than, “Leave me alone!”

If you’re on the phone, or discussing some non-trivial matter with a colleague, I can tell you are busy, and I’ll come back later. If you just ignore me, you are a rude, selfish git and I’m not going to help you. What goes around, comes around. A little courtesy and respect for your colleagues will make your life better. Refusing to acknowledge soemone is just plain insulting.

We had a colleague leave a few months back. On his last day, he was complaining loudly on the phone that nobody had come to say goodbye, even people he’d worked with for years. That was because he was a selfish git. He displayed all the behaviours you’re promoting above. And we were glad to see the back of him.

Do you think we don’t know what projects you’re working on? Do you think that maybe we have something to help you? Maybe we found a piece of information, or a shortcut, or a contact that will help your work. But hey, you’re too busy to acknowledge I even exist, so blow you, I’m not coming back.

Learn some manners.

Jon,

First of all thank you for your honest (albeit frank) feedback. It caused me to take a second look at the tone of my post and I realized that I do come off as somewhat rude, but please allow me to explain (and in some cases, rephrase)…

I’m not sure what type of work you do, but I’m a computer programmer (something I’ve alluded to in the past, though I’m not sure I’ve ever come out and said it) which means that I spend very little time interacting with people (compared to most jobs). I get my requirements and I hunker down and do my work. Occasionally, I’ll collaborate with somebody or have to speak with the intended user to clarify something, but my work is primarily done on my own.

That said, you’d be surprised to know how many times per day people approach me directly with questions about software I’ve written (or worse, software I didn’t write). They’re not supposed to come to me directly, we have a technical support department for that. These people know this, but come to me anyway. Every time they do, it takes away from the work I should be doing.

Now, I’m not saying that I refuse to be interrupted (which I think I may have incorrectly conveyed in the post), but I’d prefer to only be interrupted in person by things that truly require my attention at that moment. For instance (and without giving any detail regarding my work or employer), there is a person in another department who visits my desk no less than 2-3 times per day to ask me questions that are decidedly non-emergencies. She just wants an answer and she wants it now, regardless of what I’m doing. These are the kind of interruptions I’m looking to divert, not when somebody actually needs my help for something that is costing the company money every second it’s not fixed.

Dealing specifically with the “Ignore Them” suggestion, as I wrote this I was envisioning myself doing something where ignoring the person was a plausible action (like if I had headphones on, for instance). I don’t ever just flagrantly ignore somebody when they speak to me at work if they know I heard them (I feel like I’m digging the whole deeper here ). My goal is to get them to think “man, he’s really busy – is this worth interrupting him?” Chances are, it’s not – and if I can avoid a single interruption by pretending not to hear somebody the first time (especially when I’m 99% sure they don’t really need my help right now), you bet I’m going to do it.

With regard to your last paragraph, it again comes down to the nature of my work. Not knowing what type of work you do, I can’t intelligently comment on the propriety of my suggestions. But I can say that I’m actually a very nice, respectful guy at work.

Didn’t mean to cause any offense, hope this cleared things up a bit.

Hello Brett,

My response was partly to your article and partly to the intial response it got from Scott. The qualifications to your post do help, but…

Firstly, people like me are coming here for various reasons (for me, it’s GTD) and the fact that you’re a coder in a specialist role, not mixing it with co-workers much, does not come across well. And even so, please consider the wider audience anyway. I am looking for constructive, useful ideas and tools, so if your suggestions are really specific to your circumstances, then you need to flag that more strongly. I work in an open-plan office (cubicles are rare in the UK) and people mix it up a lot. Part of my work does involve chipping my tuppeneth (that’s 2 cents to you), and I expect my colleagues to do the same. Interruptions are just that, interruptions, but for most people, they go with the job. For your role, I can see you want more isolation, and if you’re allowed to wear headphones and such at work, good luck to you. Coding is writing, and you do need to get the stream of consciousness going.

Secondly, reading both parts, it seems that you do have some support, but are not using it. If colleagues know they are meant to go to tech support (even if you wrote the code), tell them to go to tech support. And raise this with your managers. And put it in the interruptor’s feedback (Joe keeps interrupting me when he knows…). And if a specific colleague is being a specific pain, raise the matter directly with her manager. And if your managers don’t help, raise it with their managers. Writing negative feedback does get through to people. When a person is having their review, these items come out and they are in a position to state that they will change their behaviour.

Another option is to ask the person to book time in your diary (if you have these tools in your office). Say, I can’t resolve this matter right now, please book some time this afternoon. Or maybe, take some time at the start of your day to visit her, saying I’ve got some time now, can I help you on a problem? Okay, well, I’ll speak to you later, after 4pm then. But hey, I’m not available till then, okay? Set some ground rules and see how she responds.

(I’m tarring you with the same bruch as Scott…) Scott’s attitude of labelling people is negative. What label do you think they put on Scott? What goes around, comes around. The way you behave is reflected right back at you.

I don’t normally respond to threads in such an aggressive style. But you (and Scott) did come across as appallingly arrogant and you can see how that triggers a rude reaction. I’m glad you’ve taken the positive approach in your response instead of a “screw-you”. I’ll be back to read more on your blog.

Ain’t teh internets wonderful.

Cheers,
Jon.

Jon –

Greetings from across the pond.

I certainly didn’t intend my comment to come across the way you obviously perceived it – one of the joys of typing instead of talking, I suppose. I was really just venting. Even so, let me add some qualifiers. I used the term “Hoverers” in an attempt at levity.

If you’d be kind enough to re-read, you’ll note that I never advocated just “ignoring” someone. My real concern is that sometimes, I’ll look up from whatever I’m working on and BAM! there’s someone standing there – right in my office doorway. I didn’t hear them come in. I don’t know how long they’ve been there. I didn’t know they were there at all. That’s a hoverer. Maybe I shouldn’t let it bug me, but it’s kind of bizarre behavior if you ask me. I mean, regardless of how you interpreted my comment to brett’s post, I am a pretty approachable guy — are people afraid if they say, “Excuse me…” I’ll bite their head off?

To be clear: If I don’t acknowledge you, please clear your throat or cough or – I don’t know – say, “Good morning…” or even “Pardon me,” or “Do you have a minute?” Don’t just stand there wasting YOUR time because my back is to the door!!

Did you ever see the Seinfeld episode with “The Sidler”? He was always sneaking up behind Elaine at work and taking credit for her ideas. She bought him a container of Tic-Tacs so she’d always hear him coming. It was FUNNY, Jon. You should download it if you can. THAT is where I got the “Hoverers” thing from. Just a little (albeit bad) attempt at some humor.

Where we evidently disagree is on what to do if I’m engaged with a student, parent, colleague, or phone call. I mean no disrespect at all, but it is not YOUR decision whether MY conversation is trivial or non-trivial. You don’t know who’s on the other end of the phone. Sure, it could be my wife calling and asking me to pick up bread on the way home, or it could me my superintendent. Either way, I would appreciate it if you would NOT stand in the doorway, but rather wait until I’m finished (in the outer office, on the couch — really anywhere but IN MY DOOR would be fine). If the natural flow of the conversation lends itself to it, I will make eye contact with you and nod and hope you get the hint. I may even break from the conversation and ask you to come back when I have more time to spend with you. But not EVERY conversation lends itself to that so please don’t take it so personally if I don’t acknowledge you. I would do the same if you and I were talking and someone else came to the door.

If you think that makes me arrogant, then I guess I’ll have to live with that. But I would never DREAM of just parking myself in MY supervisor’s doorway while he or she was clearly involved in something.

As for “what goes around comes around,” I’m really not sure how that applies to this situation. Hopefully we can agree to disagree. In the future you might consider asking people to clarify FIRST instead of just jumping in with personal attacks, name calling, and other incendiary comments. When you begin the conversation with those kinds of things, you would do well to understand that most people WILL tend to respond with “Screw you!” If you want to engage in some intelligent discourse, I think that’s what the blogosphere is all about and I look forward to chatting with you more.

Have a great week!

– Scott

Brett,

I like your blog. I like many of your suggestions, especially the sign. If you really want to make a point, get some of the Caution tape (aka crime scene tape) they sell at Lowes or Home Depot and stretch it across your cubical opening (if you have a cube). That’s what they do at Target corporate. It’get’s the point across in a humorous way.

I agree with Jon both about the dangers of making “global” statements and appearing rude to your co-workers. Some employees have internal and external customers and your suggestion, without qualifiers, have less value for them.

It’s great to have a job where you can be task-focused. Many jobs, though are people-focused, yet each contains a little of aspect of the other. Even people who have the luxury of being task-focused need to pay attention to the relationships they build with others at all levels of the org chart. That co-worker who continually interrupts you may be your boss one day.

In the case of serial interrupters, I would suggest something like this: (smile)” Linda, I’d love to talk to you now, but I’m afraid I’ll lose my focus at what is turning out to be a key point in my work. Are your questions “show-stoppers?” (She’ll ask you what that means. Explain that you’re asking if she needs an answer because her show, or project, has stopped, awaiting that answer. She’ll probably say no. Then say, “Could you e-mail your questions to me? I’ll get back to you by 4:00 today.” Or ask her if she wants to schedule an appt at a time convenient to both of you. Watch your body language, be open. Conceal your irritation. Repeat this each day until she gets the message. Be firm, but fair, and listen to understand her needs. But don’t be a victim.

Even in a task-focused environment, relationships are important. If you want to get promoted out of your position, the non-tech career track may be closed off to you if you don’t play well with your co-workers. Even advancing up the tech side will be challenging. If there’s an open position above that you want and it comes down to you and another person equally talented at coding, then the tie is probably going to be broken in favor of the one who relates best to his or her co-workers.

When you’re tired of reading David Allen, read Dale Carnegie’s, “How To Win Friends And Influence People.” Practice the principles on your co-workers, friends, and family. You’ll be surprised how much productive and fun life is.

Regards,

Glenn

Great suggestions, Glenn.

I work in a high school so, as you can imagine, interruptions are par for the course as we have students with issues or students who believe that they have issues. Learning how to shift modes and handle frequent interruptions comes with the territory so to a certain extent I expect it.

One thing I am committed to, though (and the secretaries here know this as well), is that a kid in crisis takes priority over anything else. After all, I work for students and teachers. I can call the superintendent back, but nothing alienates a kid — especially at the high school age — more than someone who they perceive as not caring about them as a person.

I will pick up the book – I’ve heard a lot about it over the years so it may be time to give it a read.

Scott, Amen about the kids.

For those of you interested in reading the Dale Carnegie book I mentioned above, let me suggest the following: Take one principle and practice it for a week. For example, the first principle is “Don’t critize, condemn, or complain.” Put it in bright font on your next actions list and on one of your hipster note cards and lean it up against your monitor’s base. Use the marquee screen saver and type it there as well.Every time you start a conversation, remind yourself of this principle.

Next week, move to principle 2 and practice that one. And so one. Remember, you want to change your behavior. It’s not enough to KNOW you shouldn’t criticize, you have to become SKILLED at it, which requires continual practice.
Let me beat that dead horse one more time and say that practicing these principles WILL make you more productive in business and social situations.

Regards,

Glenn

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Hi,

I am also working coing and this implies concentration as much as possible. Coders needs to think of all posible cases that their code should cover….. and I tell you it is really hard to think of all different combinations and posible inputs that your code should work with, if you have a lot of people talking arround and asking you questions.
I am not only coding, but sometimes specifying algorithms and procedures that should be coded by others… Again this requires a high level of concentration.

I follow myself some of Brett`s suggestions, but I would say that the one that works best for me is using headsets… I work in an open cubicle, and it is a pain in the ass to try to concentrate if someone is coming to ask you or some of your work colleagues.
The “body language”, I dont need to fake any position, I simply adopt a normal thinker position if I am concentrated…. I can understand perfectly that if someone needs to know something and you look relaxed then they will feel free to ask you…..

Well… . I would like to see more suggestions here…. in the topic of doing multitasking… e.g. what to do when you have different tasks assigned or different nature….. how to deal with them in the most effective way.

[...] of you are probably thinking “hey, aren’t you the guy who advocated completely ignoring coworkers?”. Well, yes, but that’s only in special cases – like when you need to get things done [...]

Business Ideas Forum…

I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…

[...] Brett Kelly – 6 ways to limit interruptions at work (that you can use right now) [...]

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