{"id":167,"date":"2009-08-01T11:50:50","date_gmt":"2009-08-01T18:50:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.schoenborns.com\/pdxcopywriter\/?p=167"},"modified":"2009-08-01T11:51:17","modified_gmt":"2009-08-01T18:51:17","slug":"ending-interruptions-in-the-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.schoenborns.com\/pdxcopywriter\/2009\/08\/ending-interruptions-in-the-office\/","title":{"rendered":"Ending Interruptions in the Office"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cross-posted<\/a> from my Pop Art blog<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

There are Two Types of People in the World: Makers and Managers<\/h2>\n

There are two types of people in your office, Makers and Managers. And scheduling a meeting with Maker can kill that person’s effectiveness for the day, according to Paul Graham<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I find one meeting can sometimes affect a whole day. A meeting commonly blows at least half a day, by breaking up a morning or afternoon. But in addition there’s sometimes a cascading effect. If I know the afternoon is going to be broken up, I’m slightly less likely to start something ambitious in the morning.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Makers Need Uninterrupted Time<\/h2>\n

Makers do the work \u00e2\u20ac\u201d at Pop Art, our Makers are designers, developers, programmers, writers, designers and media planners. These people create the work that ends up online. Here’s how Graham describes the conundrum Makers face.<\/p>\n

They generally prefer to use time in units of half a day at least. You can’t write or program well in units of an hour. That’s barely enough time to get started.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Managers, however, live and die in increments of an hour. Seeking information, checking in, status updates, reaching consensus, making a decision, delegating are all reasons for managers to call a meeting. Boom!<\/p>\n

Interruptions are Relative<\/h2>\n

If a meeting is advancing the project, it must be a net positive, right? No. Interruptions are relative. An older article on the cost of workplace interruptions<\/a> (yes, I’m now calling your status update meeting an interruption) qualifies them as such:<\/p>\n