Co-Working Flexible offices still have a way to go

We all loved the idea and promise of the flexible open office, social co-working environment where people bring their dogs to work and you never know who you might bump into on the way to the espresso machine,…until work crawled to a stop.

Aren’t we supposed to love the interruptions, the forced interactions?

If we need to get out of our isolation chamber and discover what’s happening in the rest of the company, then perhaps occasional interruptions can be a good thing, but if thinking work is the order of the day, then each interruption means a huge setback in momentum and the schedule.

What if each interruption was vital? Vital for whom? We all need to engage others, especially when we’re stuck or when we need answers asap so we can proceed. The problem is that one person’s priority is another person’s useless interruption.

Notifications on our mobile devices are the equivalent of the open office with a steady stream of interruptions, most of them meaningless. Let them all in at your own peril.

For now, designated “Quiet” or “Do Not Disturb" times may be our best bet for getting real work done, and our best protection from unwanted interruptions, whether from our mobile device, a random office co-worker or your boss’ dog begging to be fed or walked outside. Turns out most co-worker interruption-problems were issues that could have solved without your involvement, with just a little effort on their part.

Even when your 5-person office occupants behave like stars, not interrupting you every 10 minutes, we can still hear conversations transmitted through the plenum, walls, and bouncing off of the other hard-surfaces of these modern interior environments. Bonus: the occasional hallway troll walks nervously shouting on their mobile phone, for all on the floor to hear.

Regain control of your attention and time and establish some rules about interruptions. Find a quiet place to work when all else fails. This will enable you to move forward with your work while helping others to dig deeper into their own abilities to solve problems and you will see the work suddenly leap forward with progress.