[DevKoala]

This is very true. The proof is in the pudding. If someone messages you or calls you, you might dismiss them easily, but if someone stands next to you and asks you “do you have a moment?” Will you dismiss them as easily?

PS: Working with a largely distributed team, I trained myself to treat all of these requests the same. Even if someone walked from the other side of the building to ask me something. The priority assessment before I consider shifting my focus should be the same.

[rodiger]

If there was no way to hang up the phone you wouldn't dismiss them as easily. I think this is likely a feature of ease of dismissal rather than one of remote vs local connections

[DevKoala]

There is also an easy way to not prioritize people at the office. You tell them in a polite manner that what you are doing is a bigger priority and requires your attention. Over time people learn to coordinate discussions when you are free to talk. It is part of learning to say “No”.

[iateanapple]

> Working with a largely distributed team, I trained myself to treat all of these requests the same.

Why?

[ryukafalz]

If you prioritize the local coworker over your remote coworkers simply because they're nearby, that contributes to the idea that remote coworkers are less effective, because you're making them less effective.

[iateanapple]

> If you prioritize the local coworker over your remote coworkers simply because they're nearby

So the right answer is to answer calls etc from remote colleagues promptly - not to ignore local coworkers who walk over.

It’s not to make local communication less effective to prop up remote work.

[DevKoala]

You don’t ignore people who come to talk to you. You tell them politely that you are focused on a task, and to wait until you are free. Over time people learn to send you a message first to coordinate when you are free to talk.

At the company I work for, the norm at the office is to always ask first “is this a good time to discuss X?”. Not even the CTO gets a free pass to interrupt engineers. Actually he was one of the people who coached me to prioritize my focus first and to learn to say “No”.

[iateanapple]

> You tell them politely that you are focused on a task, and to wait until you are free.

If I’m coming to talk to you then I think it’s important enough to interrupt you.

You are in effect gimping local communication.

[DevKoala]

Not at all. The person asking for attention will communicate what topic they want to discuss. I can then evaluate if that topic is more important than whatever I am working or focused on. If I tell the person that they need to wait, they could tell me why I am not doing my priority evaluation correctly and then I’ll reassess. There is no conflict or lack of politeness. The system works well for our team.

[jasonv]

Isn't that at odds with the whole point of this post (which I'm not even sure I agree with)..?

People want to be in the same space so they can have small, in-person interactions. Those have softer priorities than intentional communications.

Working in offices, people often do "swing by" and ask if it's a good time to talk about something. It's socializing the issue. If you say "no" and they come back later -- or you go find them, it has all worked out.

[interactivecode]

It is, you are putting your own issue in higher regard just because you don't know someone else’s situation.

When working remotely think ahead and assume your issue/question isn’t as important as you think it is. Because most of the time questions for colleagues aren't as urgent for anyone except you.