Of course customers always come first, but lately there has been just a ton of internal slacks and emails, some of which aren’t urgent (but some of them are.)
In general I am just finding it harder and harder to multitask my attention to customers (either calls or emails) while also getting pinged left and right on email/slack. Especially because you have to skim/assess the messages to see if they’re urgent.
I don’t want to put up big, bold “do not disturb” icons on slack and come off too deflective, but also want to be able to focus more on top tasks.
Anyone have some advice on best ways to keep attention on customer priorities while also being efficient with browsing and responding to internal slacks/emails throughout the day? Any suggestions would help!
Love the post! Unfortunately COVID and Social Media has forced us into an “immediate gratification”, actually it all started back when we (sales) were given mobile phones (I think I just dated myself).
Anyway, not sure if this helps, but my strategies to maintain focus…
(1) your list of people you actually need to prioritize is relatively small. In your day to day it will typically be your management chain and customers. Group slacks or channels can be addressed later. A DM from anyone in your leadership chain should take priority. Similarly with e-mails. Customers, then Leadership, and then all else.
(2) reserve the morning or end of the day to get caught up on all other things (ie e-mails, slacks, etc). If something is urgent enough, they will get ahold of you.
(3) Specific to slack, I prioritize the following: (1) Leadership Direct, (2) Direct DM from folks I work with, (3) channels
(4) regarding DND, I will use this when I am either on a Zoom with a customer OR working on something that requires 100% focus.
Great perspective and organization of thoughts. I especially agree on your prioritization list.
Your advice reminds me that the channel stuff can usually wait until later. I strive for zeroing out slacks/emails, but I like the idea of reserving the channels stuff in particular for later in the day, or even the next morning.
Thanks for posting this topic, @rick.reilly (and appreciate all the insights, @greg.nishihira.) Awesome wisdom already in this thread!
One thing I personal recommend is blocking off your calendar for particular tasks in priority order — and the tasks could be batched, like “Catch-up on Emails” or “Review Channel Slacks.”
I find that if I carve out time for these kinds of specific things, they get properly prioritized, never fall by the wayside, and I’m building up healthy organization habits.
Create a system, stick to it, build up the muscle through regularity, and the positive results will follow.
Distractions are tough to avoid, but you’re usually going to talk to a handful of key people throughout your week. I prioritize notifications from them and everyone else is secondary.
After that, it’s good to have a task list full of things you want to achieve for the day. When you finish a task, take a quick glance at Slack to check if anything needs your attention, then move on to the next task.
Another thing— you don’t have to respond immediately, if at all. If the Slack message isn’t that urgent, come back to it later. Or, just click the green “check” emoji to show you’ve acknowledged the message.