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?
See Also:
Mark Levison has been helping Scrum teams and organizations with Agile, Scrum and Kanban style approaches since 2001. From certified scrum master training to custom Agile courses, he has helped well over 8,000 individuals, earning him respect and top rated reviews as one of the pioneers within the industry, as well as a raft of certifications from the ScrumAlliance. Mark has been a speaker at various Agile Conferences for more than 20 years, and is a published Scrum author with eBooks as well as articles on InfoQ.com, ScrumAlliance.org an AgileAlliance.org.
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