If you work with people, and you probably do, you can rest assured that you’ll be interrupted from time to time. Sometimes, hopefully rarely, there will be multiple interruptions at the same time. This article shows how you should prioritize those interruptions to maximize your productivity.

The order (or interruption hierarchy) in which I process interruptions goes like this:

1. In-person visits
2. Phone calls
3. E-mail and Instant Messaging

In-person visits

The in-person visit, or “walk-up” is when a co-worker visits you in person. This should receive the highest priority, as someone has taken the time to actually get up from their seat, and walk over to see you. They have taken the initiative to ask a question or resolve an issue using direct communication, the most productive way to do such a thing for both parties involved.

This is the source of one of my greatest pet peeves in a retail context. There have been times when I’ve visited a store (the “bricks and mortar” type, as the e-commerce crowd calls it), and will be in the process of finalizing a sale when the clerk drops everything because the phone rings. I’ve taken the initiative to come in to the store and really buy something, with real money, but I’ve been put on hold because a perspective customer, who may or may not come into the store, is calling. Take care of the for-sures first, then move on to others.

Phone calls

There are times when a co-worker cannot stop by because they’re not physically located in the same area as you. Sometimes they may be in an adjacent building, in another city, or they may have a position that requires them to travel. For those types of people a phone call is the most productive way of fostering communication, and you should extend a high priority to them. But for others, a phone call is not as good as an in-person visit, but better than non-verbal communications.

However, if you have an in-person visit occurring when your phone rings, let the phone go, regardless of who it is. That’s what voice mail is for. Do not interrupt the tempo of your current conversation by starting another.

Email and/or Instant Messaging

Unless the sender is in a remote location, I assume any email or IM communication is low priority. For a local (i.e. in the same building) co-worker, the only time I find that email is acceptable to start a conversation is when there may be background material necessary for the conversation (Example: sending a specific error message or stack trace, then stopping by to ask about why the error is occurring). Other than that, I view email useful only for ‘follow-up’ messages, or low-priority questions that do not require an interruption, and that can be answered at the addressee’s convenience.

Do not fall into the IM trap of confusing “Instant” with “Important”. If you find yourself stopping whenever an IM window pops up, regardless of content, consider closing your IM client. Chances are that most of the IM’s you’re receiving aren’t worth the time and thought lost by looking at them.

Obviously this changes if either of the two people involved in the communication are working off-site, perhaps telecommuting. However, I’d still prefer phone (or other voice communication, such as Skype) over email and messaging.

Managing your interruptions

A friend once told me of a co-worker that has implemented office hours, much like college professors do. During those hours, the door is open, available for anyone to drop by, ask questions, general chat, etc. However, once office hours are over, the door is shut, and it’s heads-down work. If you could possibly get by with that in your workplace, I’d suggest it. It almost requires an office; I find it hard to ‘shut the door’ on my cube.

Look into creating a “Do Not Disturb” sign policy at your workplace. In order for this to work, you’re going to need buy-in from management. If you get that, and the policy is adhered to, then you can implement at type of “office hours” policy. However, the system cannot be abused; you cannot simply leave the DND sign up all day, everyday, and expect people to respect it.

If you get to a point in a in-person or phone interruption in which you’ve either resolved the issue or reached a point where a consensus cannot be reached, you’ve got to make a move to get the conversation to wind down. In the case of the resolved issue, just repeat the consensual conclusion, and thank the co-worker. If they still don’t leave, politely mention that you need to move back to the work you were doing earlier. Typically, interruptions that reach a conclusion won’t keep going endlessly; however, those interruptions when a consensus cannot be reached can be tricky to end. Tell the co-worker that you understand the issue and will need some time to think about it, then schedule a follow up meeting. Be sure to schedule this meeting immediately to assure the co-worker that they’re not just being blown off. If that doesn’t end the conversation, try the same approach as with the conclusion scenario: tell the co-worker that you’ve got to get back to your original task, and that you’ll follow up shortly.