Accessible And Interruptible

Most technical work is best done by people who are able to focus exclusively on a task for long periods of time without distractions. However, there are certain technical roles that are require the holders to be accessible, meaning that other people can contact them, and interruptible, meaning that they can shift between tasks as needed.

Being accessible and interruptible is especially important for these roles:

• manager
• architect, technical lead, lead developer
• analyst, customer, customer representative
• technical support, network support, on-call service

If you hold one or more of these roles, but also hold one of those heads-down roles, then the roles are going to have conflicting time-management needs. You will either face continuous interruptions that interfere with your focused work, or you will have to lock yourself away somewhere and leave others without access to a necessary resource.

If possible, try not to give yourself conflicting roles. If conflicting roles are unavoidable, some steps you can take to minimize the conflicts are

• share information with as many people as possible, or make it available in written form, so that you are not the sole source
• delegate responsibilities to others
• try to get everyone to use e-mail and other asynchronous means of communication
• set up a regular schedule so that people know when is a good time to talk to you and when is not

When deadlines approach or other stressful events occur, many people make themselves less accessible. The stated reason is often "So I can actually get something done". However, this is often counter-productive, as crises are better resolved with more communication between people, not less. It is usually better to make yourself even more accessible and interruptible, rather than isolating yourself.