
Quick Hack to Make Your Boss (and you) More Productive - prosa
http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2010/08/19/productivity-hack-how-you-can-make-your-boss-more-productive/
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mfr
Whenever I need to ask someone a question about something, I take 2 minutes to
do just _one_ more bit of homework on the topic.

The goal to give my brain one more shot at figuring it out on its own. Either
I figure it out and I don't have to ask anyone else, or I'm now more informed
about the topic when I ask someone a question, and I've moved the topic back
to the top of my memory.

When it works, I've learned something, saved someone else from being
interrupted, and I get a little kick of "I did it all by myself!"
satisfaction. Even when the trick doesn't work, the ensuing conversations are
usually much more productive.

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pmjordan
This is why I like asking questions by email. It forces me to formulate the
problem in one go in as much detail as the receiver might need. A lot of the
time I end up not sending the email after that mental exercise. (this is
basically rubber duck debugging but less abstract - you can work in the
context of a real person not an inanimate object)

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will_critchlow
Getting things done suggests keeping lists per person you interact with
frequently to solve this problem. I keep a "discuss" list in remember the milk
and tag entries with the person's name. It's not a perfect process and I need
to get better at sticking to it, but it's similar to this...

Unrelated: it's only when working with others who don't have a consulting
background that I realise how much I learnt from that phase of my life. I love
learning tips from other random industries...

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superk
"And the funny thing – by the time you were ready to walk through 7-8 issues
with your boss you realize that you had already figured out 3 or 4 of them on
your own."

There's a counter argument to this (I'm not saying I agree with it) but it's
those extra hours it took to solve something on your own vs. the seconds (or
at most minutes) to ask the right person. Of course the article does a good
job to point out those seconds aren't free either... but I've had managers
make a point of saying "if the problem can be solved by asking the right
person than do it" that there should never be a reason to solve the same
problem twice.

~~~
mstevens
It's a lot more complicated than that.

For example, if I ask a small question today, I'll get an answer and get with
the task quickly.

But I'll only have a small bit of information, so I'll be back tomorrow, the
day after, and so on.

Whereas if I spend slightly longer working it out myself, I'll generally
understand the system involved, and may be able to avoid a whole series of
questions, saving significant time for everyone involved.

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Pistos2
A while back I increased my MUA's mail download interval to one hour. The
decrease in focus disturbance was immediately tangible, and very refreshing.
Coworkers would ask "don't people complain that you don't respond quickly?" to
which I reply: It hasn't happened yet. :) At worst, the boss walks over to ask
if I've received such-and-such email he sent, but that has been rare.

I'm thinking of increasing to an even larger interval.

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adn37
Also keep a log book of daily progress/problems. It's good for achievement and
bonus: it allows you to answer "wtf did you do last month" questions right
away.

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steamer25
I have a policy wherein I will spend a half hour trying figure out problems
myself (reading code, etc.) before bothering the local guru. This way, I limit
the interruptions I cause and learn stuff myself so less questions arise in
the future. Also, I can have a semi-informed discussion if it comes to that.

You have to balance it against yak-shaving though so resist the urge to go
much longer than a half-hour.

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sethg
Four interruptions _per hour_?! I never realized how good I have it....

