Issue #2: The not-so-quick question epidemic
Why your 'quick question' might be costing your team hours - and what to do instead.
The story
Picture this: It's Wednesday morning. I've got my coffee and I'm sitting at my desk, strategically placed in our open office landscape where I can spot everyone on my team. You know, in the old days when everyone was working in an actual office. A client just sent an urgent request to update some footer text - a two-minute fix I could have done myself if the developers would have given me access. My developer is right there, deep in concentration. The temptation to just swing by with this “quick question" is real.
But here's what I've learned through years of working with developers, designers, and other creators, as well as being a creative myself: there's no such thing as a quick question.
That two-minute fix actually entails:
5 minutes to switch context and understand what's needed
5 minutes to make the change
20 minutes to get back into the complex problem they were solving before
Multiply this by the number of "quick questions" they get that day
I've watched this play out countless times in different teams. The most stressed and frustrated developers I've worked with weren't the ones with the heaviest workload - they were the ones whose days were constantly fragmented by well-meaning colleagues with "just a quick question."
The takeaway
Understanding the difference between maker's and manager's schedules (an essay that should be mandatory reading for everyone in a management role) changed how I work with teams:
Managers work in hour blocks, switching tasks frequently
Makers (developers, designers, writers) need long, uninterrupted time to create
Your role is to protect your team's focus, not fragment it
What works better:
Write down and batch non-urgent requests and schedule proper check-ins
Use async communication, ideally a project management tool
Create clear urgency criteria – what really needs immediate attention?
Sanity check
For this week, before any "quick question," ask yourself:
Is this truly urgent? (Hint: 90% of the time, it's not.)
Could this be handled asynchronously?
Can it wait for a scheduled check-in?
Keep a log of how many interruptions you avoided. You might be surprised how many weren't as urgent as they felt in the moment.