So to all the ‘Multitaskers’, ‘Open door’ advocates, and email ‘Immediate responders’, I have bad news. While you may be able to get more done than the person next to you, new research proves that you are probably not as effective or efficient as you could be.
Research published online in April of 2014, ‘Do Interruptions affect quality of work?’ (Foroughi, Werner, Nelson, & Boehm-Davis, 2014) (find it here>>) highlights that we already know interruptions increase the completion time of tasks, and that on average an office worker faces up to six interruptions per hour. We also know that interruptions reduce accuracy, but until now we had no idea about how interruptions affect quality.
The researchers ran a series of experiments on participants trying to write an essay. They faced interruptions during planning, during writing, and none at all. The results indicated very clearly that interruptions DID affect the quality of the output. We know this intuitively, but this research proves that getting going again after an interruption is more difficult, and that we rarely commence from exactly where we left off.
The message – multitasking comes at a price – it impacts on both the time taken to complete, and the quality of the individual tasks. It’s time to shut the door, turn off the phone, and ignore emails for awhile – and to respect those that do so. While you may still be able to get things done, are they being done as well, and as quickly as they could be?
The Avondale Business School can advise your organisation on being effective in these areas – find out how by contacting Warrick Long at the Avondale Business School.
P: 02 4980 2168