http://paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html One of my social networking friends recommended a thoughtful article this week: "Maker's schedule, Manager's Schedule" The premise is that there are two kinds of jobs: those where the work can be scheduled on an hourly basis, and those where work is best tackled in big chunks such as days or half days. It's a wonderful description of a reality I've observed for years. http://paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html
The people I know who create for a living...the writers, the software developers, the designers....they're the Makers. They need big chunks of time to get into the creative flow, to get the full context in their head, and then do the magic only they can do. Two meetings in a day can be a terrible imposition for a Maker, especially if they're not back to back.
Then there are folks like me, who live by their calendar. I often joke I go where my calendar sends me, but it's true. Every hour (or half hour or fifteen minutes) brings a new task. Right now I'm late for my weekly plan/review meeting with myself.
So, how does this relate to Sametime? Makers hate instant messaging. Even worse then they hate meetings. Meetings can be anticipated and planned for. Instant messages are random. Like tornados.
Managers love instant messaging. They can "see" who's working (this is an illusion, but that's another discussion). They can ask a question without having to leave their desk or pick up the phone. Instant messaging is also how a leader on a global team builds relationships over time. Instant messaging becomes the virtual water cooler.
How to reconcile these two work styles? By recognizing the value in both and accommodating both. I know one team which declares a "meeting free" day every week. Other teams take advantage of their distributed nature; Dublin gets the early mornings to be "offline", Boston gets the late afternoon.
If it's not possible to set aside big blocks of time on a team wide basis, then a team can make it a norm that it's legitimate to drop off the net to get concentration time for critical work. Makers should turn their Sametime status to "Do Not Disturb" (DND) on a regular basis, their team leaders should encourage this and lead by example! Another option instead of DND is to use the Sametime Privacy filters (File -> Preferences -> Privacy) to appear offline or DND except to the few people whose ping must be accepted, no matter what.
Of course, if you use DND, you also have to make a point of coming up for air periodically, at times that are convenient for your teammates worldwide to contact you. Business IS a team sport, and instant messaging is an important part of enabling rapid team problem solving.
If you're one of the many people who longs for the days when an email reply before the end of day was a speedy response, I encourage you to discover "Do Not Disturb". If you're worried, socialize it first, and explain what you'll be doing in that time. Send people this link for discussion. Maybe you can set a new team norm, one that works better for everyone.
Beth Benoit | 31 July 2009 03:41:35 PM ET | | Comments (0)
