Team members get interrupted throughout their working day. Some of the interruptions are high value – e.g. a team member asking questions that helps the team stay in flow. Some are important, such as a production support issue, although we should understand their cost to see where to improve our system. In other cases, the interruptions are from outside the team and most of these interruptions should be blocked by the ScrumMaster or Product Owner, and redirected or saved for a better time.
Scrum By Example – Interruptions Hurt the Team
Scrum by Example – How to Handle Production Support Issues in Scrum
Resource Links:
- A Diary Study of Task Switching and Interruptions
- High Cost of Interruptions
- Impact of task switching and work interruptions on software development processes
- Interrupts: Just a Minute Never Is [PDF Warning]
- Managing Sprint Interruptions by Tracking Buffer Use
- Programmer Interrupted Key quote: A programmer is likely to get just one uninterrupted 2-hour session in a day
- Worker, Interrupted: The Cost of Task Switching
- What’s the cost of interrupting developers?
