Power Outage Follow Up - Observations
A couple of hours after my last post, the power came back on in the building and all was right with the world. My dissatisfaction with Dell battery life was confirmed - I only got in about an hour of work before everything died away. It's clear that my current choice of notebook precludes me from a great amount of truly roaming activity.
On the other hand, I am finally switching from hardwired to wireless connections when in the office - even at my desk. I can switch buildings, work from home, etc. and never change my basic startup process for getting connected. It's a small thing, but I'm all about continuous improvement and the cumulative effect of multiple processs changes over time.
My most interesting insight came a bit later in the morning. After a few more folks got to the office, and there was nothing else electronically to do (thanks to the weak batteries), a small group launched into conversation on a project that was experiencing some issues. I noticed a palpable sense of relaxation while talking - driven, I think, by a unstated assumption that we had no nothing else to do. However, I think the fact that we had no pending distractions (meeting in 15 minutes, other work to get done) plus a severely limited potential for interruption (by phone calls or e-mails), and no diversion of attention (ie. typing on the keyboard while taking part in the meeting) was a significant productivity boost. The conversation was fairly robust and free-flowing - the ideas came easier, the alternatives made more sense.
For team productivity, there is definite value in getting away from the office and shutting off all connections. Freedom plus focus makes a difference.
Previously ...- Thoughts During a Power Outage - (March 27, 2008)
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posted by James P. MacLennan at 10:36 AM
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