Comments on: The Art of Meeting Multitasking

By: Do You Have the Discipline to Single-task? | ConversationRate.com | Rick Galan on Conversational Marketing & eCommerce

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 10:05:21 +0000

[...] The Next Trend in Web Working? which gives some good tips. They also have an older article, The Art of Meeting Multitasking with some [...]

By: Singletasking: The Next Trend in Web Working?

Singletasking: The Next Trend in Web Working? — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:01:45 +0000

[...] 19th, 2009 (9:00am) Darrell Etherington 1 Comment We freelance web workers multitask like it was going out of style. Question is, is it actually going out of style? Some people think [...]

By: Busted! My boss caught me meeting multi-tasking | Nerd Guru

Busted! My boss caught me meeting multi-tasking | Nerd Guru — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 04:28:01 +0000

[...] you know what I did? I followed my own advice and plead [...]

By: Josh

Josh — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:55:42 +0000

For working remotely, take a look at http://www.showdocument.com
It allows you to upload any document and immediately review it together with anyone in real-time,
All the participants in the session see each others’ drawing highlights and mouse , and it is free and requires no installation

By: Neil Matthews

Neil Matthews — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:12:22 +0000

I’m a single tasker everytime, I find that multitasking dilutes my output.

But the real question I want to ask is:

Does anyone have a fool proof technique to get back on track when you have been drifting out of the meeting discussion and someone asks you a question and you have no idea what they are talking about? :-)

By: Brett

Brett — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:33:50 +0000

Not really short-term help, more long-term: if you’re having to multi-task in meetings because you have other pressing priorities, you have too much work, and too little time – you’re doing something wrong, somewhere. One of the hidden cons to teleworking – you’re always available on phone.
Focus is critical, multi-tasking is highly overrated. I know people who juggle two mobiles, email and a conversation at the same time: really, they take longer multi-tasking than they would if they dedicated time to each task, appropriately. And it’s painful trying to have that conversation with them.
Don’t multi-task, single tasks, efficiently and expeditiously completed. Unfortunately, you can’t necessarily make your colleagues efficient too!

By: Sam

Sam — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:22:03 +0000

I’d add one small thing: mute the phone.

While its nice to not hear the kids or the tv in the background, a much more frequent distraction is the clicking of someone’s keyboard as they do whatever it is they’re doing.

Also, there’s the chance of heavy breathing that could prove to be downright embarrassing.

Our teleconf service lets you dial a special code to mute your own line, so regardless of the phone you happen to be using (desk, home, cell) you can always be assured that the call is muted. Although I’m not 100% sure, I’m guessing most major services have similar features.

By: The Art of Meeting Multitasking | Nerd Guru

The Art of Meeting Multitasking | Nerd Guru — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:04:36 +0000

[...] For the rest, head on over to WWD. [...]

By: Chris Ritke

Chris Ritke — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:25:07 +0000

I think that if you can’t say that you weren’t paying attention when you get ‘caught’ then there might be something wrong with your team. I don’t think it should be a problem at all if there’s enough trust and respect among the team members. On the other hand if you overdo it, you’re probably risking losing the trust and respect you’ve earned.