When you work in a traditional office and have a question, instant gratification is hard to resist. It’s so easy. Just stumble over to a co-worker’s desk, make sure they stop whatever it was they were doing, blather on until the lights of recognition come on in their eyes, then await the answer. Unless your query concerns inflammable materials currently engulfed in said flames you’ve likely wasted their time – in fact, you may have even wasted your own.
One of my favorite side-effects of working remotely is the way slow-time communication forces you to stop and think before you speak. When I have a question for one of our programmers, for example, here’s a bit of what goes through my head:
How should I ask this question?
He’s online, I could just send a quick IM…
...but is this important enough to risk interrupting with an instant message?
No. I’m not even sure I can even explain it one line at a time like that.
What about email?
Nah. It’s about some specific code, maybe I should ask on Github.
It’s complicated. How can I explain this as directly as possible?
I can post a comment right on the helper method…
...but is the problem really in the helper or is it because of the collection set in the controller?
It’s definitely in the controller, let’s start there. Wait a second…!
It’s usually at this point that I either figure out the answer for myself or come up with a new way of considering the problem, never having to even ask the original question. I didn’t bother my co-worker, I didn’t look like an idiot trying to articulate the question on-the-fly, and most importantly I figured out the answer!
People who struggle to work remotely often bemoan the lack of in-person collaboration jumping from this tool to that tech in an effort to recreate the magic that only happens when we’re all in the same room. There are definitely advantages to face time, but too often it seems like facial expressions and waving arms are substituted for clear thought and courtesy.
The next time you have a question for a coworker, try writing it out as if they were 1000 miles and 3 time zones away – even if they’re sitting right next to you. You might surprise yourself with the answer.
José
on 10 Apr 13That’s how co-working should be. Thanks for sharing your experience!
Joe
on 10 Apr 13That’s what I like about using Basecamp, even if we’re in the same room. There’s something about writing down the question that sometimes reveals an answer.
Ted Pearlman
on 11 Apr 13Hi Jason. I appreciate what you’re saying. But I think it’s dangerous to empiricize about what working style is most productive.
Think of the ten people you most admire in business or software or entrepreneurship. Visualize them acting in the way that is most authentic to them. Now, in your mind’s eye, place them into the working environment you’re describing. I think you’ll find that some of them are very productive and happy. And some of them are hopelessly stifled and depressed. Those in the latter group are not in their naturural habitat.
Daniel Chohfi
on 11 Apr 13Amazing post, thanks!
Devan
on 11 Apr 13But this both confirms and overlooks the fact that research has proven that articulating a thought process via a different medium (more often than not – by speaking the question) can often result in enlightenment. I am sure we have all at several time in our lives worked out the answer to our own question whilst just talking to someone else about it.
I am sure that your process above, of writing it down in some manner will engage different parts of your brain that if you were merely ‘thinking’ the problem. For more people, conversation is less work than writing down (ie where did I put that pen and paper?).
As distracting as asking questions of someone is, it shouldn’t be totally ruled out in any workplace. Sure, programmers and other people engaged in ‘flow’ type work should not be constantly interrupted, but perhaps even have a stuffed monkey on the corner of your desk that you can talk to in order to kick in those other neurons in your brain… ;)
karthi
on 11 Apr 13Good one :)
Bruno Orcha
on 11 Apr 13Absolutely agree!
Mark
on 11 Apr 13I have a natural tendency to work things out for myself rather than bother other people. But I need to recognise that I don’t have ALL the best answers (dammit!) , and often talking it through with another person gives a new perspective and a better solution. Is that wasting their time? – maybe, it depends how important the question is, and whether they benefit from working on the problem too.
JZ
on 11 Apr 13@Devan – Absolutely. But is it the act of talking to someone else what causes us to find the answer or is it just because we finally thought it through fully in the act of explaining it? The latter is what I want to avoid.
Matt
on 11 Apr 13So much talk about remote work lately, it’s interesting to see how job ads have evolved. One that sticks out is this ad on Bandcamp.
“If the thought of setting your own work hours and environment makes you think of laundry and masturbation more than eight times a week, we’re probably not for you.”
JZ
on 11 Apr 13Classy.
Sean Collins
on 11 Apr 13Great post. This is the same idea as rubber duck debugging.
Fred Merkle
on 11 Apr 13Well, I disagree, and think this is a pretty idiotic assertion. Are you suggesting that reducing communication leads to better project and business outcomes? Do you have any data to back up the assertion that in talking to a colleague I have most likely wasted their time?
While it may be true on occasion, it’s also possible that your colleague might suggest a solution you didn’t think of, tell you that the problem doesn’t need solving based on the outcome of a meeting that just concluded, or ask a question they need some help with. And in my experience all of these positive outcomes are far more likely than your time-wasting scenario.
Reducing communication, either in-person or remote, leads to wasted effort and poorer quality.
JZ
on 11 Apr 13Are you suggesting that reducing communication leads to better project and business outcomes?
Nope. tl;dr: think before you speak. Don’t reduce communication, slow it down.
Do you have any data to back up the assertion that in talking to a colleague I have most likely wasted their time?
If I interrupt someone’s work to ask a question that I could have figured out myself if I’d only taken the time to think it through first, I think it’s fair to say I wasted their time.
Greg
on 12 Apr 13You basically described http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?RubberDucking or teddy bear pair programming ;)
But yes – being in the same office is tempting to go the easy way and just ask.
JZ
on 12 Apr 13Thanks for the links about RubberDucking, Greg and Sean. That’s new to me in name, if not in concept ;)
TDG
on 13 Apr 13We’re in a smallish office. We recently slowed it down to email only a couple days a week. Half the company took it personally. Some made up loopholes not embracing the intent which required boundary-checking. Some days aren’t perfect. Others are nice and quiet. We allow some workers to invite others to ignore the policy with them. We’re making sure deviations from the policy don’t cause it to be forgotten and pushed out.
John V. Keogh
on 13 Apr 13Anyone who was creating takes about ten minutes to get back into the flow after an interruption, if they can get back into it at all. (I read that somewhere!)
Joshua Pinter
on 13 Apr 13Excellently crafted post Jason. Difficult to pick a quote to share on the internets.
Particularly enjoyed the enforcement that you have to overcome the urge to interrupt somebody, whether they are across the room or across IM. “Is this worth interrupting them for?”
Keep up the posts.
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on 15 Apr 131acuLbScpDQj1K
Anonymous Coward
on 15 Apr 13there are ways to mitigate interruption and encourage productive interactions in the physical workplace, but sadly almost no offices are forward thinking enough to know this or to implement it, when it is implemented, the results can be staggering and sometimes better than what can be done with highly skilled people working remotely it really depends more on the mission of the organization and the office think science lab vs. general office
Anonymous Coward
on 15 Apr 13by the way, please redesign this white desert giant type center river blog, it is really straining on the eyes and “slow time” to read posts and comment, a step in the wrong direction and JZ you are someone who could really fix this please!
Don Schenck
on 15 Apr 13Interruptions cost DEARLY; more than most realize.
That’s why, when I was a newspaper sports writer years ago, we’d put a sign on our CRT: “On Deadline – Do Not Disturb”.
This discussion is closed.