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Speaking as somewhat of an introvert I find having to conduct a real-time telephone conversation hugely more disrupting to my "coding flow" than reading or resp

Speaking as somewhat of an introvert I find having to conduct a real-time telephone conversation hugely more disrupting to my "coding flow" than reading or responding to email/IM/IRC. Perhaps this no-email idea works in an office where part of people's job is to be sort of extrovert (i.e. recruitment agents), but in an office with (dare I say it) a more cerebral atmosphere I can't see it going down well. It sounds like the pet project of some extrovert management person, and because they instinctively place huge value on real-time communication with fleshy mouth parts, and their inbox is overflowing, they think everyone else is in the same boat. Not convinced. Besides, perhaps the most annoying thing a recruitment agency can ever do is leave you a long rambling answer phone message with their phone number at the end. You end up having to listen to the damn thing multiple times to copy down the number and phone them back at your expense. Just email me, I'll get right back to you if I'm interested.

untog 14y ago
Speaking as somewhat of an introvert I find having to conduct a real-time telephone conversation hugely more disrupting to my "coding flow" than reading or responding to email/IM/IRC. Sure. But this is an opportunity to further optimise office workflow. Given how disruptive face to face meetings and telephone calls are, why not get them all done in the first two hours of the workday? Then you can head to your desk and work totally uninterrupted. With e-mail interruption I'm constantly in and out of the zone. It sounds like the pet project of some extrovert management person [...] Not convinced. I'm not convinced either, but that passage just makes you sound like "some introvert coder person". There isn't a "right" answer to this- you and the imagined extrovert have a difference of opinion, but labeling yourself as more "cerebral" doesn't mean you are right. Loud, extroverted co-workers who get in your space are annoying. So are introverted programmers that spend all day with earphones in refusing to engage with the team around them.
- Wintamute 14y ago
  If I'm sounding like I'm some introvert coder person it's because I am. Introversion doesn't have to mean that you wear headphones and refuse to engage with anybody, it can just mean that direct human interaction takes up more of your concentration. I'm not sure what I wrote that made you think I thought there was a "right" answer? It seems obvious from both our comments that neither of us think this so I guess something in my tone/wording rubbed you up the wrong way, so for that I apologise. I was attempting to communicate that any high-handed company wide commands are unlikely to fit with everyone's personal foibles. At the end of the day I think a relaxed culture of mutual consideration of our colleagues working practices is the way to go.

untog 14y ago

Speaking as somewhat of an introvert I find having to conduct a real-time telephone conversation hugely more disrupting to my "coding flow" than reading or responding to email/IM/IRC. Sure. But this is an opportunity to further optimise office workflow. Given how disruptive face to face meetings and telephone calls are, why not get them all done in the first two hours of the workday? Then you can head to your desk and work totally uninterrupted. With e-mail interruption I'm constantly in and out of the zone. It sounds like the pet project of some extrovert management person [...] Not convinced. I'm not convinced either, but that passage just makes you sound like "some introvert coder person". There isn't a "right" answer to this- you and the imagined extrovert have a difference of opinion, but labeling yourself as more "cerebral" doesn't mean you are right. Loud, extroverted co-workers who get in your space are annoying. So are introverted programmers that spend all day with earphones in refusing to engage with the team around them.

Wintamute 14y ago
If I'm sounding like I'm some introvert coder person it's because I am. Introversion doesn't have to mean that you wear headphones and refuse to engage with anybody, it can just mean that direct human interaction takes up more of your concentration. I'm not sure what I wrote that made you think I thought there was a "right" answer? It seems obvious from both our comments that neither of us think this so I guess something in my tone/wording rubbed you up the wrong way, so for that I apologise. I was attempting to communicate that any high-handed company wide commands are unlikely to fit with everyone's personal foibles. At the end of the day I think a relaxed culture of mutual consideration of our colleagues working practices is the way to go.