After a brief hiatus (OK, 139 days…but who’s counting?!), the Sales Management 2.0 Podcast is back! We’ve missed the podcast, and we’re committed to getting it back on track with the best content about sales and sales management we can dig up, and this week is no exception.
In this episode, we discuss (and debunk) the myth of multi-tasking. The idea from the episode came from a blog post Jerry wrote called “Chasing the M-Myth”, which in turn was born from a discussion over beers with a couple of really smart guys (see that post for more details). The gist of the discussion was basically this: there is no such thing as multi-tasking!
No matter how gifted you may be, it’s literally impossible for your conscious mind (the part that handles all your thinking) to do more than one thing at a time. Don’t believe us? Just try grocery shopping while you’re on the phone; we guarantee it’ll take twice as long as it would otherwise. Why? Because you can’t simultaneously carry out both functions at once. You have to stop doing one in order to do the other, because both require the participation of your conscious mind.
So why the emphasis lately about the importance of one’s ability to multi-task? Why is it listed in some companies as a job requirement? We think it’s due to a fundamental lack of understanding of the damage that multi-tasking can do to your interactions with your customers.
Think about it for a minute: do you recall the last time you were “multi-tasked”? You probably do, and chances are pretty good that you didn’t enjoy the experience. Why? Because you want to feel like you’re getting the full attention of the person you’re talking to, especially in a customer service setting, and you feel slighted when you don’t get it. Why would you ever want to make your customers feel that way?
So what’s the answer? We say do one thing at a time and do it well. Forget about multi-tasking, and instead concern yourself with learning to focus like a laser. You’ll be more effective, and your customers will appreciate the change.
It’s good to be back in the saddle, and if you have any suggestions or would like to participate in a future episode, please use the comments section or the contact form.
Thanks for listening!
Brad and Jerry
