Here is a great article on the detriments of context switching: https://blog.rescuetime.com/context-switching/

Research has shown that we lose 20% of our productivity when switching between contexts. We all know the experience of switching between different tasks, projects, tools, etc. We may not always be aware of how detrimental it is when it happens too often. From an Agile perspective, the cumulative effect of context switching on a team can greatly hamper the team’s efficiency.

The cure is FOCUS.

As one of the 5 Scrum Values, FOCUS is SUPER important for success in Agile. From the Scrum Guide: “The Scrum Team commits to achieving its goals and to supporting each other. Their primary focus is on the work of the Sprint to make the best possible progress toward these goals.” (LINK)

Is everyone on your scrum team able to focus primarily on the work the team needs to get done each sprint? Or is their attention pulled in multiple directions? Are people managing their time appropriately in order to focus effectively? If you are a scrum master, in what ways are you providing coaching and raising concerns to management?

This article linked above goes into more details. It is worth setting aside some time to digest it and then share it with your teams.

One last word… The article refers to one of my favorite authors, Cal Newport, and his book, Deep Work. If you REALLY want to be my friend, read Deep Work and talk to me about it.

Seriously. Let’s talk.