Interruptions at work are frequently blamed for a lack of focus and productivity. Email, instant messaging, phone calls, and texts, are just a few ways to interrupt someone engrossed in a task. Each interruption comes with a cost, as it takes time and mental energy to get back on task again. Although the costs of interruptions are real, and the ease with which employees can interrupt each other is concerning, the debate often lacks the other side of the story. Which is that interruptions, typically, have a function.
The functions of interruptions
Although the frequency of interruptions has increased with the advancement of technology, interruptions are not new. A typical office setting in the sixties knew many interruptions such as a phone call from a client, a boss invading a cubicle with an assignment, or a peer stopping by for a chat. Each of these interruptions has an important function: providing customer service, receiving work instructions, and giving social support to a colleague.
In any job that requires interactions with others, connectivity is important. By being connected, employees can share information, coordinate work tasks, and answer questions. Connectivity has two sides. Employees can make themselves available for communication by reaching out to others. In two studies among 389 employees, I found that available employees find the resulting communication more effective. They also gave more support to coworkers and received support in return. This means that the interrupter benefited – they got an answer to a question or exchanged support.
Why interruptions can be frustrating
The flip-side of availability is that others are interrupted. Whereas available employees choose to pick up the phone or send an email, those on the receiving end do not have control over interruptions. This lack of control partially explains why interruptions can be so frustrating. The other reason is that an interruption causes us to step away from the task we were working on. Stopping a task halfway through is frustrating because we don’t get completion or closure on this task.
Task completion means that we finish a task. Cognitive closure means that we mentally switch off from the task. Cognitive closure usually happens when we finish a task and are happy with the result. Once we complete a task and feel closure, our minds can move on to another task. With an interruption, however, we don’t get completion or closure on the first task. This causes part of our brain to continue processing the task we were working on before the interruption. Interruptions are thus double costly – they only make part of our brain power available for the new task, and after the interruption, we need to force our focus back to the original task.
Tips to manage interruptions at work
Because interruptions can be functional and frustrating, it is important to strike a balance. Here are a few tips for using interruptions wisely.
1. Schedule focus time as a team. If interruptions are ongoing, employees have no time to finish a task with the required concentration. Blocking off an interruption-free time slot each day gives employees some control. Knowing that a task can be completed during this time slot also reduces frustration about interruptions that happen outside of focus time.
2. Plan a meeting before focus time. If you are concerned that team members get stuck during focus time, scheduling a team meeting right before the interruption-free time slot might be a good idea. The manager can then coordinate which tasks each team member will focus on and give instructions.
3. Limit task shifts. Shifting focus is costly. However, certain urgent tasks might be worth that extra time or energy. To determine if an interruption should be dealt with right away, give your daily tasks a priority score. If you are working on a high-priority task, the interruption should be very urgent to justify switching gears.
4. List topics that are off topic for IM. As a team manager, set clear expectations about what topics are urgent enough to interrupt team members. Make a list that specifies what questions can wait until the next meeting, or require an email, versus which topics should be messaged on instant messaging.
5. Use technology to support your policy. Many software programs can facilitate your team’s communication rules. For instance, scheduling interruption-free time for your team can be done with focus time in Microsoft Teams, during which messages are blocked or muted.
Interruptions are a threat to our focus. At the same time, most workplaces can’t run without interruptions. To get the most out of communication, it is crucial to have clear rules in place so that your team knows when it is okay to interrupt a team member, and when it is time to focus.