I’ve seen many job postings and I’ve been in several
interviews where a job requires the applicant to be a good multitasker. What
this typically means is that there are many things going on at the same time, and
the employer is expecting that person to manage many things simultaneously. The
insinuation is often that a multitasker can produce more with greater efficiency
than someone who is not good at multitasking.
One example may be a project manager who has many people to
lead through a multitude of tasks, some running at the same time, while navigating
through a maze of obstacles. So, one would think an experienced project manager
should be a great multitasker, right?
I think not. I believe multitasking is the enemy of completing
projects on time and on budget. I would think twice about bringing someone on the team who believes they are
a good multitasker. Why? Let’s look at the evidence.
A group of scientists in Paris at the Institut National de
la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) gave a group of people two
tasks to complete at the same time. The subjects were being monitored via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The activity happening in the brain
while multitasking is interesting. They found that the brain essentially splits
the tasks and caused the participants to forget details and make three times as
many mistakes compared to when they only performed one task at a time. Another
study out of the University of London found that participants while multitasking
showed a significant IQ reduction, from adult norms to that of an 8-year-old
child.
A deeper study recorded in the Journal of Experimental
Psychology suggests multitasking makes us less efficient. What happens in
multitasking is that the brain is constantly shifting between tasks. This
process involves deciding to change the task and then activating different rule
sets to accomplish the task before they start doing the new task. One example was
shifting between writing and doing work in a spread sheet where the brain shifts
between language rule sets and math rule sets. (University of Southern California, 2019)
A study at Stanford University supports these findings by demonstrating
that multitasking is less productive than doing a single task at a time. And in
studying those who thought they were great multitaskers and better performers because
of it, they found that this group was even worse at performing that those who are
single task performers because they had more trouble organizing thoughts and focusing
on relevant information. The brain, they found, can only focus on one thing at
a time to be most productive and highly successful at task completion.
And if all that isn’t bad enough news for proponents of multitasking,
the University of Sussex found that high multitaskers have less brain density
in the part of the brain responsible for empathy as well as cognitive and
emotional control (anterior cingulate cortex). Yes, heavy multitasking seems to
cause brain damage. (Bradberry, 2014)
What’s the application of all this for project managers?
If people are most productive when they are focused on one task at a time, then it would make sense for project managers to guide their project teams to be most productive by not putting them in situations where they are multitasking. We could conclude from these studies that project teams are most productive when they are single focused and single minded.
Conversely, multitasking project teams or individuals on project teams will produce exactly what we don't want to do: create lower quality work, missed deadlines, less detail and focus, and miscommunication.
Here are a few recommendations based on results of these studies:
If people are most productive when they are focused on one task at a time, then it would make sense for project managers to guide their project teams to be most productive by not putting them in situations where they are multitasking. We could conclude from these studies that project teams are most productive when they are single focused and single minded.
Conversely, multitasking project teams or individuals on project teams will produce exactly what we don't want to do: create lower quality work, missed deadlines, less detail and focus, and miscommunication.
Here are a few recommendations based on results of these studies:
- When running software projects, the team should stay focused on one sprint at a time.
- For other projects that use a more traditional work breakdown structure, the team should only focus on one deliverable at a time.
- Teams should use few, even just one, tool.
- Uninterrupted time blocks should be set aside for task completion.
- Encourage and lead the project team in such a way that allows for and supports the idea of single concentrated efforts.
References
Bradberry, T. (2014, October 8). Multitasking
Damages Your Brain And Career, New Studies Suggest. Retrieved from
Forbes:
https://appliedpsychologydegree.usc.edu/blog/to-multitask-or-not-to-multitask/
University of Southern California. (2019, April 12).
To Multitask or NOt to Multitask. Retrieved from USC Dornsife:
https://appliedpsychologydegree.usc.edu/blog/to-multitask-or-not-to-multitask/
