radiant.matrix

This is something I’ve been thinking about for a long time, and trying for a little bit. Just about every instant-messenger (IM) technology supports setting a status message in addition to a state. That is, besides such states as “Away, Busy, Available”, one can enter additional information about that state; for example, “Away” can carry the message “I’m in training all day.”

Anyone who is interested in productivity has learned that IM can be both a powerful tool and a supreme source of distraction. Many have learned that setting “Away” or “Do not disturb” during work sessions to keep people from initiating contact can be extremely helpful. Unfortunately, many of us also have interrupt-driven work environments — if we’re marked away on IM, someone will call; if we let it go to voicemail, they’ll just stop by our desks.

There are times when I’d prefer to be available for people who need to contact me, but just don’t want to be bugged about lunch plans, a funny anecdote, or whatnot. I’ve figured out a way to use the status messages in our corporate IM product to effectively accomplish this. Here’s what I did:

1. Figured out what it was I wanted to communicate. I came up with this brief list:

   • I’m busy, so only contact me if it’s really important
   • I’m going to be away for a little bit, either e-mail or leave me a message on-screen
   • My computer is doing an intensive task, so I’m ignoring it for a while; call or stop by
   • I really am unreachable (e.g. conducting a screen-sharing session with a customer).

2. Figured out abbreviations for status messages that map to those needs:

   • LB - Low-Bandwidth mode: you can talk to me, but only if it’s not idle chatter
   • LM - Leave Message: with Away, means you can leave me a note on-screen if you wish; with Do Not Disturb (DnD), e-mail or voicemail are the only options.
   • RW - Real World mode: I’m not using the computer, but I’m available by other means.
   • EO - Emergencies Only: I’m with a customer or otherwise unreachable, my pager can be used if it’s really an emergency.

3. Communicated with my team. I made a reference card for my teammates, encouraged them to use the messages, and explained how to check my status before sending me a message.

Now that those three steps have been completed (and really, don’t underestimate the last step), I can set my state to ‘Away’ and my status can say “Ran down to server room; LM”. People will know that I’m not there, but can send me IMs anyhow.

Or, I can set ‘Active’ but say “Working on presentation; LB please”; this cuts the idle chatter down considerably, but leaves me reachable for work-related discussion.

The surprising hidden advantage to implementing this system has been the ability to use those status abbreviations in responses to IMs. For example, if someone is being excessive with their chatter, I can simply say “hey, I need to go LB for a bit” and they will leave me in peace (and without getting offended). Apparently “I need to go LB” sounds a lot less accusatory than “hey, I need to get some work done”.

If you try this and meet with success or failure, or if you attempt modifications, please leave a note in the comments!