(This post is part of an ongoing “Less is More” series)

Quite often, I’ll be sitting in my office happily cranking away at some code and the door will suddenly open followed by an unexpected visitor who briskly walks in. This someone usually appears to be somehow related to my workplace. Interruption occurs, I lose my groove and turn my focus to the professional with an issue that requires my involvement. Being that I stand by my personal commitment to do what I can any time and any way to benefit the greater good of the organization, I’ll chat it up in regards to the newfound web-related request.

What I don’t do however, is fall into an impromptu meeting. I used to find these sudden discussions leading into half hour or longer meetings which would ultimately throw off my entire day. Pitfalls of such meetings include but are not limited to:

• Misinterpreted body language. Quite often folks on the receiving end of “on the fly” meetings display restlessness and fidget because there is pressing tasks to tend to. Such behavior can be taken as disrespect by the initiating co-worker.
• As mentioned before, a groove can be lost. Even if you’re not being very productive, you’re even further away from hitting a good work stride after interruptions.
• Catering to someone’s urgent needs will set you up to be the immediate go-to guy/gal again in a future circumstance. Most of the time, the “urgent” issue can wait and can be tended to by someone else with less work load.

Now that we’ve identified and noted how unplanned meetings can be damaging to our productivity during the work day, let’s dive into what I’ve found to be successful methods in properly handling sudden, incoming requests.

• Be courteous and accommodating to the co-worker who has interrupted you, but do not completely shift your focus. Explain to them that you are currently in the middle of something but would happy to hear about their issues via e-mail and schedule a meeting for later in the day or week.
• Recognize what is truly an urgent issue and what can wait. Most requests coming down the line can be put on hold while a task with higher priority can be handled first; but learn to identify when something may have been initiated by your boss or other superior. In such a case, follow up with your boss and confirm that you’re working on what’s most important.
• Don’t fib on dates, times, and circumstances. If you have little to do for the day, don’t say you’re extremely busy. White lies usually come back to haunt, keep this in mind. On the same note, if a formal meeting is set-up for later, follow through on it and make good on the promise. The more often promises are kept for planned, formal meetings, the more credibility you gain and thus a likely decrease in impromptu meetings.

Handling work-related interruptions is somewhat of an art that is to be acquired and honed over time, so with dedication to implementing these methods for handling sudden situation, one can become a reliable employee who is rarely bothered.

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