Interruptions and the Knowledge Worker

After being away from this blog for a little more than 2 weeks, it was interesting that this past week's Basex Newsletter focused on the subject of The Cost of Not Paying Attention: How Interruptions Impact Knowledge Worker Productivity.

If you download the Executive Summary (free) of this industry analysis, a key statistic is that interruptions, such as e-mail, IM, cell phone calls and the like cost - in Basex's analysis - $588 billion per year, just in the U.S. alone.

I have always had a personal policy or practice that when I'm meeting with someone, even for an informal meeting, that I do not take cell phone calls or attend to email or other distractions. I figure that the cost in time (read money) to the company of an interruption to a fellow employee and me discussing business gets expensive when you consider the down time of the two of us, while one of us takes a cell phone call (or answers an email, etc.).

There is also lost time in regaining thoughts and momentum. The best practice would seem to be to complete the meeting and then tend to the interruption and give it full attention if it is required. This situation is compounded when there are 5, or maybe 10. people meeting and one person takes their cell phone call because it is "important."

I am sensitive to the fact that there are urgent calls, and if that is the case, the other participants in the meeting should be made aware of the fact that there may be an interruption, and if so, continue, or hold up, or cover a specific subject while the call is handled.

The Basex report also covers the fact that employees are increasingly feeling as if work is a 24/7 activity (which I have no complaint about), but that the increased feelings seems to justify in the employee's mind the handling of personal emails, calls, and Internet surfing during the course of the workday, activities that are bound to cost company's money.

The subject certainly requires examination, as the Basex report states, "modern technology has increased the variety of ways and the ease by which a knowledge worker can interrupt, or be interrupted."