Comments on: How We Keep Distractions From Killing Our Business

By: Andy Drish

Andy Drish — Wed, 17 Aug 2016 22:14:55 +0000

Love it. For me, getting our team synced on a rhythm was a game changer… We implemented Rockefeller Habits so we had weekly meetings to reviews goals, metrics scorecard, etc and talk about our plans for the week.

Do you ever find the daily standups to be challenging to continue to do? We struggled with them. I couldn’t tell if it was just because we were virtual or if it was something else.

By: Laura Roeder

Laura Roeder — Mon, 15 Aug 2016 21:23:08 +0000

Great article! I wrote about slack in particular here https://lauraroeder.com/how-to-customize-slack-so-it-stops-murdering-your-productivity-82c5a6be55dc#.7fvgvph4z

By: Josh

Josh — Mon, 15 Aug 2016 00:43:51 +0000

On slack, we’ve introduced a rule to think before you tag. We’ve also create a bunch of two user private channels, for DMing someone without a notification if it’s non-urgent. Lastly, we’ve re-introduced email for important but non time sensitive communications, much easier to not miss an email than a non-tagged slack message.

By: Fernando Fernández

Fernando Fernández — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 10:08:56 +0000

I love the irony in getting distracted by receiving this post and read it right away…

By: tom_deleu

tom_deleu — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 06:35:59 +0000

I think you didn’t touch one important point.
Sometimes it is OK to be distracted. We are not robots that can perform at 100% all the time.
A lot of times these office chats, be it in real life or on Slack, are a part of what makes you love doing what you do. And more than often they are sparked by a small meaningless distraction.

But I do think it’s important to keep the balance, and to know when a distraction is ok and when not. It is work after all. So I do agree with your post. Especially the async communication part! Teams use sync communication tools waaaaay to much. Guilty of this myself. So thank you for the reminder 🙂

By: Scott Horlbogen

Scott Horlbogen — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 03:31:56 +0000

Alex, insightful as always………..I find you have a keen sense of getting to the root of issues. That is a real talent!! Thanks for your posts.

By: Colin Bovet

Colin Bovet — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 18:01:24 +0000

I have such a love-hate relationship with Slack. I don’t think they live up to their tagline of helping people “be less busy” at all, but I’m reluctant to turn off my notifications. If I can send quick answers 5-10 times a day that each save my teammates 23 of their minutes, I figure we’re better off. Then I save my tasks that require focus for later in the day after they’ve all left.

By: Ericsestimate

Ericsestimate — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 17:56:05 +0000

I really dig this. Sometimes the best way to get more done is not to have more people, but to organize your team’s day better.

By: Brian Hanson

Brian Hanson — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 16:56:10 +0000

I love the idea of the stand-up meeting. Excellent idea.