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Responding to that anecdote about distractions often in modern open-plan offices, Jarrett describes recent research in Germany and Switzerland. And he reports some surprising findings.
Jarrett then discusses the lessons of that research for real-life working?
Of course every office situation is different and we must be cautious about extrapolating too literally from a lab study. That said, these results suggest it pays to think about the kind of conditions under which anytime help-seeking might be preferable to having controlled quiet times, or vice versa.But he also offers some suggestions to ensure success:
If you're in an office where there is a large discrepancy in expertise or knowledge between staff, then allowing help-seeking and interruptions at anytime is likely to be highly beneficial, especially if a couple of minutes sacrifice from one team member will save hours or more for the person making the inquiry.
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- [W]e should also encourage a culture in which people think twice before seeking help – first asking themselves if they can solve the query alone.
- Käser's participants only derived a benefit from decent stretches of quiet time. So consider a day or a half-day as compared to 1-2 hours.
- [I]f quiet hours are introduced in your office, it's worth planning how you might make the most of them; or if you're a manager, consider sharing some strategic pointers.
This article is featured in today's (Aug. 1) Garbl's Creativity Connections -- available at the Creativity tab above and by free email subscription.
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