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Say No

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11–20 of 96 posts

Re: Say No

#11
Notice that if your development team uses chat or ticketing or email or some async communication mechanism a lot of these issues go away.

Re: Say No

#12
post #5

That's Facebook's culture. They're building a new HQ building. It has one of the world's largest bullpens. Almost everybody is in one huge room. (Floor plan: http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/08/dezeen_Frank-Gehry-... ) Apple is at the other extreme - they keep their groups isolated, often behind locked doors. Microsoft used to run recruiting ads for programmers pointing out that their programmers get offices wit…

That floorplan has got to be what Hell looks like. Holy crap.

Re: Say No

#13

I wish I had a little LED at my desk that would sync with my IM status to show people when I was busy or available to chat online or in person. One of the earliest usability features in the online world but still not replicated in the real world.

[deleted]

Re: Say No

#15
post #8

That's just rude. A short and polite "I'm a little busy, can we talk later" would require no more effort or concentration than just saying no.

We don't quite agree. It is upon the person who is taking it wrongly - that is negative on their part. Everyone should practice saying 'no' without having to explain themselves.

Re: Say No

#16
post #3

A lot of this is culture dependent I believe, but i am under the impression that at least on western countries you cannot do this a lot of times without a high cost, specially if you re not a manager. If someone comes to your desk directly, you are supposed to stop what you are doing and give your attention to that person, even if you are working on something really urgent. Refusing meeting requests is also not well…

Your suggested solution makes sense to me. I find myself doing this more and more. The place where I get the least amount of work (at least my work) done is the office, so I tend to work at nights or sometimes simply work from home the entire day.

Some people get personally offended if you don't stop what you are doing to talk to them. I have a feeling that this is harder for people that work for IT departments, because people in other departments don't understand the cost associated to an interruption like that.

This cartoon says it all: http://heeris.id.au/2013/this-is-why-you-shouldnt-interrupt-...

Re: Say No

#17

I wish I had a little LED at my desk that would sync with my IM status to show people when I was busy or available to chat online or in person. One of the earliest usability features in the online world but still not replicated in the real world.

In my case, that LED is my headphones :)

Re: Say No

#18

I wish I had a little LED at my desk that would sync with my IM status to show people when I was busy or available to chat online or in person. One of the earliest usability features in the online world but still not replicated in the real world.

This is a great idea - got me giddy for a second. Would be an awesome crowd funding project. Kudos!

Re: Say No

#19

I wish I had a little LED at my desk that would sync with my IM status to show people when I was busy or available to chat online or in person. One of the earliest usability features in the online world but still not replicated in the real world.

In my case, that LED is my headphones :)

LED on the headphones would be awesome... And possibly programmable through the cord, thanks!

Re: Say No

#20
post #5

That's Facebook's culture. They're building a new HQ building. It has one of the world's largest bullpens. Almost everybody is in one huge room. (Floor plan: http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/08/dezeen_Frank-Gehry-... ) Apple is at the other extreme - they keep their groups isolated, often behind locked doors. Microsoft used to run recruiting ads for programmers pointing out that their programmers get offices wit…

That floorplan has got to be what Hell looks like. Holy crap.

Looks like some of Raytheon's and Boeing's large facilities, minus the cube walls.
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