When you need someone else’s help, rather than interrupting them when they’re working, try hovering nearby waiting for them to talk to you when they’re done with the task they’re working on. It’s tempting to interrupt when what you’re working on is urgent and is blocked waiting for their help, but remember that they may already be working on something urgent - you just don’t know. You’re the one asking for help, so try to do it in a way that respects their work.
In environments where interrupting gets out of hand, every task is interrupted, few are completed satisfactorily and many quality problems result. That often leads to more urgent work as underlying quality problems are discovered. Slow down and respect other people even if you are feeling the pressure somewhat. Try to absorb some of the burden before passing it on to others.
Comments
Timeouts
This sounds good, but I think you need a timeout or you could be standing there for hours.
Sometimes you need to interrupt
True. I have also noticed that some people don’t seem to ever notice you’re there because they’re so absorbed in what they’re doing. I try to look for when they do a “task switch” - finishing some subtask and about to start another - but there’s not much alternative to interrupting at some point.