CHAPTER 9
INTERRUPTIONS AND INTERACTIONS: DEALING WITH THE PEOPLE IN YOUR WORLD
 
 
Certainly one of the most challenging areas of time management is dealing with the people with whom you share your work space. In Chapter 5 we saw how regular huddles with the boss might keep lines of communication and expectation clear. But what about when someoneb calls or drops in, either with relevant information or just to shoot the breeze? In this chapter, we’ll combine what we have seen in the previous chapters on influence and keystone time/payback time with some new techniques to keep these conversations under control.
In Chapter 3 we discussed how the secret behind memorizing people’s names was to remember to use word association, thus turning an uncontrolled activity into a controlled, proactive one. People trapped in conversations are often caught in that uncontrolled moment, wishing the conversation would end (or that it had not happened at all) but finding themselves immobilized by the rules of politeness. It takes great courage of conviction to tell someone to go away, and it’s certainly not advisable to do so to customers, even the long-winded ones.

BOXING THE CONVERSATION: ENTRANCE AND EXIT LINES

Phone calls are a great example of uncontrolled, time-eating moments, since live conversations generally progress freely and organically, usually well beyond their usefulness.
However, it need not be so if you establish boundaries at the outset as to how long the conversation should take. Consider starting a conversation with an entrance line such as, “Bill, it’s great to hear from you. I have just four minutes until my teleconference. What can I do for you?” When said correctly, this establishes a parameter for the call, and places the focus and good feeling back upon the caller. Notice the two key phrases:
• I have just four minutes guides the caller and informs him how much time is available to talk. This is a mini-meeting agenda that says “This meeting should last for four minutes; let’s begin.”
• What can I do for you? keeps the tone positive, implying your willingness to help under the time condition just set.
Then, as the call progresses, you can deploy similar, correctly phrased exit lines, such as “I must go—my teleconference is starting now” to wrap up the call without causing offense (even if you don’t have a teleconference to go to).
Some people have trouble with the idea of making up half-truths to end conversations, while others do not. Therefore, the phrases that you choose to use must be the type that you can live with and say with conviction. Suggestions might include:
• I’ve got a meeting in four minutes.
• My boss is waiting for me.
• My other line is ringing.
• I’m covering for someone else right now.
• My cellphone battery is almost gone.
• A customer just walked in.
• Let’s pick this up again in a couple of days—how’s Friday for you?
The point is that with so many calls being made and received each day, a great amount of time is lost to the impromptu nature of free-flowing conversation. By establishing ground rules for the call, both at the beginning and at its conclusion, using socially acceptable excuses and a positive emotion throughout, you will be able to keep most calls to a reasonable, manageable, and predictable length. The benefits of this technique include:
• getting to the point of the conversation more quickly
• spending less time on the phone
• balancing good relationships with efficient timing
• attaining heightened accuracy when it comes to calculating the predicted durations of phone calls as part of your I-Beam Review
And, yes, there are certain calls to which this technique does not apply—with a key client, for example, or with your boss. That’s why we discussed the 80/20 rule in Chapter 7. The idea is not to apply these principles to every single one of your calls and interactions, but if you can apply them to most, you’ll be much further ahead than if you did nothing at all.

DEALING WITH THE DROP-IN VISITOR

Many people work in exposed, open-concept areas in which work-places are defined by cubicles. Some share desks. For the majority of these workers, their object of daytime lust is an office with a door. “At least then,” they say, “I can get some work done.” Yet if they were to talk with the people who actually had doors, they’d find in most cases that the door is ineffective for one or more of the following reasons:
• People walk in anyway.
• People slip memos under the door.
• People slip memos under the door and then send an e-mail about the memo they’ve just sent.
• You’re rendered defenseless by the company’s open-door policy.
When people are the source of your distraction, the dilemma is how to maintain an appearance of approachability while not becoming a habitual victim of time theft. This balancing act is difficult. Our desire to appear available, effective, enthusiastic, and approachable forces us to inversely prioritize—to place the needs of our colleagues before our own. We often do this without thinking. We do it to be polite, or simply to blend in with the existing corporate culture. We let it happen to us because there seems to be no other way. That’s when it’s time to use the “intelligent push-back” to retaliate and place your priorities first.
When a colleague sticks his head in the door and says, “Have you got a minute?” what do you say? If you respond to this question by saying, “Sure, come on in. What can I do for you?” you may think you’re saying, “I’m approachable and capable. I’m a good professional,” but what you’re actually saying is, “Sure, your time is more valuable than mine—go ahead and use up as much as you want.” You are allowing a visitor’s time and priorities to take precedence over your own. As soon as you allow someone to chisel into your block of time, you are giving up things that cannot be won back. In truth, you don’t want to actually engage this person in a conversation since you’re already too busy, but you also do not want to cause anger or hurt feelings by rejecting him outright. Nor do you want to appear unapproachable or unfriendly to the office community. And, of course, a “minute” never actually takes a minute. So, what can you do? Well, here are a few ideas:
Remind him of your payback time. This is the time reserved after keystone time to deal specifically with his requests with your undivided attention. (See Chapter 6.)
Use the sixty-second qualifier. As discussed in Chapter 6, if his question is such that it can be answered in under 60 seconds, then of course you’ll hear it, but if it will take longer, perhaps he should come back during payback time. (Remember, these are the kinds of things that should be introduced first at a “best practices” meeting, so that your colleagues can get used to the concepts before being confronted by them.)
Have entrance and exit lines ready. This will guide the length of the interaction and provide you with an acceptable way out. Exit lines do not need to be just about upcoming meetings or phone calls. For drop-in visitors who are particularly difficult to dislodge:
• give them some filing to do during the conversation
• start packing up some documents and clearing your desk to go somewhere—to the copier or, as a last resort, the rest room
Deflect and save face. Even if you’re not in keystone time, when a colleague wants a moment of your time right away, provide him with an alternate time for the discussion. An answer to the original question, “Have you got a minute?”, could instead sound like this: “Well, at the moment I’m in the middle of this work, but I will come to see you at 11:15.” In this way you are guaranteeing the interrupter your undivided attention at a later time, not too far away. You are demonstrating respect for your colleague’s comfort concerns and, most importantly, you are helping that person save face by deflecting him from your current activities without being insulting.
It is crucial, however, that you follow up on your promise in this scenario. If you say 11:15, then you must visit your colleague at that time.
Incidentally, whenever you use this technique, make a habit of becoming the visitor rather than inviting your colleague to return to your work space at 11:15. Why? Whenever you make the visitation, you are at liberty to end it whenever you want—you remain in control. When the visitor comes to you, getting him to leave your work space in a timely manner may become an additional challenge.
If you think the deflect-and-save-face technique is truly unworkable, think of other professional people from whom this behavior is already expected: company presidents and senior officials, dentists, doctors, and lawyers. These types of people seldom have time for you the moment you call—they work by appointment. Wouldn’t you be more than a little surprised, perhaps even a little concerned, if your own doctor answered the phone when you called? Seeing the people who need to see you by appointment is a profitable and efficient use of your time. If it sounds snooty and stuck-up to you at this moment, remember that when properly applied, it demonstrates a professional talent for prioritization while maintaining approachability and accessibility with colleagues. It’s all in how you tell people. It’s not necessary to be mean or objectionable when declining a person’s drop-in visit. “No” is a lot easier to pronounce when it is followed up with an alternative time for discussion:
• Don’t feel you have to explain too much. If you answer no to the “Got a minute?” question, and then follow that up with too many specifics, such as “I’m working on the Johnson report right now,” you are opening up a bargaining position in which the interrupter may assess the importance of the Johnson report against that of his own request, and then gain the upper hand by deciding that his own request is of higher priority for both of you, leaving you with little room to put forth a second objection. Do not volunteer any information that may weaken your position. Talk only about that which will help to communicate the win-win scenario.
• Keep your I-Beam Agenda nearby and reachable. In those situations where you have no choice but to elaborate on why you don’t have the time to entertain a visitor, your complete, up-to-date I-Beam Agenda demonstrates your schedule for the day in black and white, proving that you really are quite busy. It is far more credible than trying to recite a general description of your scheduled events from memory.
• Always handle your deflect-and-save-face response with care and discretion. Certain people, especially senior managers, may hold priorities that truly are higher than the work you are doing, and they therefore should be seen right away. Like all the suggestions in this book, use sensitivity and judgment in determining your priorities and framing your answers.
Interrupter: Hi. Got a minute?
You: Well, at this moment, Bob, I’m just in the middle of this report. I have half an hour left. How’s 11:15 for you?
If the visitor insists on speaking right then and there, use your entrance and exit strategies to keep the discussion inside a fixed box of time.
Come back in sixty … An alternative to establishing a time for visitors to return, as in the deflect-and-save-face technique above, is to simply suggest that they come back in sixty minutes. In many cases, the issue or question that the visitors have won’t last that long. They will either:
• find another person to ask
• solve the problem themselves
• forget about the problem altogether
Not every issue and crisis in this world needs to be dealt with right away, and sometimes getting stuck on an insignificant issue will leave you unavailable for your own work.
Whether you choose to politely accommodate all requests or instead deploy some of the techniques above, either way, you will be conditioning people. They will learn how they can behave with you based on how you treat them. It is too easy to build a reputation as someone who can be visited at the convenience of the visitor. If people learn they can drop in on you at any time and spend as much time as they want, it will keep happening and you will not get any work done. Remember the 80/20 rule. Instead of trying to eliminate 100 percent of the interrupters from your life, seek instead to deflect 80 percent of them.
Finally, don’t allow interruptions to be a proxy for procrastination. Almost any diversion is welcome when you’re faced with an undesirable task. Unfortunately, the task will still be there after your visitor has left, and all you’ll have achieved is the loss of several minutes of your workday.

BODY LANGUAGE

A great deal of the messages sent from one human to another are done through body language. The eyes, the posture, the subconscious way we position our bodies speaks to people in ways they’re not always aware of. Body language can be used to encourage or discourage drop-in visitors. Conscious awareness of the messages you broadcast to your colleagues will change your position from that of a candid participant in such a discussion to an active controller of the relationship.
Keep your body facing your work. Whatever type of task you are working on, keep the central plane of your body directly focused on the work. Shoulders, eyes, and hands should all face the work itself, offering no overture. As an example of this, try an experiment: Sit in a chair that has arms or supports on either side on which you can rest your elbows. Imagine that the work you have to do is in front of you on a computer screen or within easy reach on a desk directly in front of you. With your elbows resting on the arms of the chair, steeple your fingers (bring both hands together as in prayer) and extend your neck forwards a little so that your lips touch the index fingers of your steepled hands. Stare at the work in front of you. Feel the forward momentum of your posture. Your whole body is in central alignment with the task in front of you, and a passer-by would pick up on this. Now try the opposite. Lean back in the chair, tilt your head upwards a little, and rub your jawline with one hand, while extending the other arm out across the desk. Feel how open your upper body becomes. The extension of one arm and the tilted head offers an open space for a drop-in visitor to read as available, a nonthreatening place to enjoy some socialization.
Avoid eye contact. Concentrated focus on a task also eliminates chance eye contact. Remember from Chapter 2 that we are hardwired to observe movements and changes within our field of view. It is extremely difficult to avoid wanting to look at someone as he passes by—curiosity demands it. But eye contact is the ultimate invitation, and not only does it pull people in, it sets a precedent, it conditions your visitor to see your work zone as a social area, one he will return to again and again.
Use props. Headphones send a powerful message. Many people have described to me how they use a telephone headset to achieve privacy. They’re not actually talking to anyone on the phone, just wearing it. Visitors are likely to pull up short and go elsewhere if they perceive that you’re on the phone. Regular headphones, too, if they’re allowed in your workplace (and if they’re not, you’d still have a strong case for them, using the “best practices” technique described in Chapter 14), not only deflect people who might otherwise pounce on you, they’re also an excellent way to increase your productivity during focused keystone time by creating a cone of concentration. (See Chapter 6.)
Similarly, if the dual concept of keystone time and payback time has been properly introduced into your community via a best practices meeting (a.k.a. collective conditioning), then any symbol, such as a squeeze ball or a Mickey Mouse pencil sharpener, could serve as a deflector, symbolizing that you’re in keystone time. So long as the visitor is aware of when keystone time ends, the body language of Mickey himself can be enough to keep your peace intact.
Minimize your moves. If it’s too late, and the drop-in visitor has already made himself comfortable in your work zone, then minimize the movements you use to greet him. Rather than sitting back fully in your chair to engage in an open chat, just raise your eyes and eyebrows, or look over the tops of your glasses. Keep your body “closed in” over your work.
Keep your hands poised over your keyboard or writing. Let him know, without having to say so verbally, that you do not intend to stop what you are doing. Don’t let go of the pen, the mouse, or the focused posture.
ON THE RUN
As soon as you leave your work space, you become fair game for getting pounced on by others, either for ad hoc meetings or for small talk. The formula to getting from A to B without interruption is: Walk fast, carry papers, look worried.

SOCIAL SITES

The idea behind defensive body language is not to turn anyone into a hermit. There are times for socializing and there are times for focus. Both are beneficial. However, conditioning, as we have seen, is conditioning no matter what you do. When the time comes that you need a break and you consider your drop-in visitor to be a welcome and timely diversion, it is wise to walk with this person to another place—the kitchenette, the copy machine, a location other than your work zone—so that he can associate the social interaction with that location rather than your work space. This also gives the added benefit of having control over the closure of the conversation rather than waiting for him to leave your cubicle.

HOW TO SAY NO

When a colleague or superior asks you or tells you to take on an additional task, many people feel it would be very difficult, embarrassing, or dangerous to say no. However, saying yes can be just as dangerous to you and just as disappointing eventually to the requestor. It means you may end up working too hard on too many projects, and the quality of all of them will suffer.
The ability to say no to additional tasks starts by redefining the term “no” so that it is no longer a term of rejection but one of guidance in which the requestor sees the merit in seeking out someone else.
• If you feel obliged to say yes because he is standing in front of you: Make sure your I-Beam Agenda is up-to-date and visible. This gives you a tangible tool of negotiation. When your requestor can actually see the work you already have to do, it helps to put his request in perspective.
• If you know you are too busy: Communicate clearly that in saying no now, you are giving him the opportunity to save time by looking for another resource rather than finding out later that the task cannot be finished on time. Even people with the best intentions find out too late that it can’t all get done. This is an application of the “pay me now or pay me later” rule, which says that it’s better to get the “bad” news up front than to come back later and get it when time has run out.
• If you feel obliged to say yes because you are a nurturing person willing to help others: Remember that there has to be a line in the sand somewhere. Whatever you do or say, you will be conditioning this person, and his expectations will be based on how you respond. Once you say yes, the precedent will have been set, and he will expect a yes on each subsequent request. His behavior will also modify itself. He will no longer feel the need to find other resources or to time his activities to anything but the last minute, knowing you will always be there at the rescue. It’s a situation that will only worsen with time.
• If you feel obliged to say yes because it’s something you can do, even though it’s not part of your regular job: Be very careful. The road to Hell, as they say, is paved with good intentions. Once other tasks get prioritized before your regular tasks, either your manager will find out and ask why this is or, worse, you will have just “yessed” yourself into an additional set of responsibilities without getting paid for them. Your abilities in this second area, once known, will relieve the department of having to hire a replacement, and the tasks will remain yours.
• If you feel obliged to say yes because a friend is in a bind: There is certainly nothing wrong with helping someone in trouble, but there must be closure. After accommodating his request once, be sure to huddle with this person and explain how he might modify his plans next time so that this need not happen again.
• If you feel obliged to say yes because it’s your boss who’s making the request: It’s probably best to accommodate the request, but make sure to bring it up at the next huddle so the two of you can identify a suitable alternative.
• If you feel obliged to say yes because you feel uncomfortable in confrontational situations: This becomes a conflict management issue. One of the basic rules of conflict management is that you take the “you” out of the conflict—remove the emotion and focus on the facts. Eliminate the idea that you are rejecting another person, and focus simply on the facts of what can and cannot be done. “Here’s my schedule, here’s what I am expected to do right now, here’s where I have some time, and here’s where I do not.” Even though you use the word “I,” the focus of the conversation is the agenda, the workload, and the requestor’s relationship to it.
• If you feel obliged to say yes because the requestor is being overly imposing: Put it this way: “If you want me to drop everything in order to accommodate your request, I will, but keep in mind that I will have to do the same thing for the next person who comes along and asks the same question.”
• If you feel obliged to say yes because it’s part of your job, but you’re too busy at the moment: Use the “Come back in sixty” technique above (see page 114). This is not actually saying yes or no, but simply deflecting the request for an hour, during which time it might resolve itself. Or offer an alternate time. Though this is not actually saying no, it is saying, “Not right now,” which gives you both the chance to book an acceptable alternative time to do the work.
Then, of course, once you’ve gotten rid of your drop-in visitors and their requests, you can finally get back to work. Oh, but wait a minute—that red light on your phone is flashing again.