A newspaper reporter has a human-interest story to do on a football player whose team�s field is 45 minutes away from the office. The reporter takes a camera, a notepad and a tape recorder and drives to the field. The reporter returns two hours later with an amazing feature story and picture for the next day's paper. Job well done, right? Not exactly.
Today�s young workers think in terms of one day, one task. Granted, the newspaper business is much different from other businesses, but it helps to illustrate a point: The reporter could have gotten the same story, but spent an extra 10 minutes talking to the coaches and asking if there are other players who have interesting stories worth telling. That reporter could have gotten the phone numbers of those players and taken action photos of them at practice and put them on file so she wouldn�t have to drive 45 minutes the next time a human-interest story is assigned. On your way back to the office, you stop by the local soccer field and take a couple of pictures of teams playing and publish them in the paper. Welcome to multitasking! It required just a little more time and a little more forethought, and the result is more news for the paper and less expenditure waste. Granted, most daily newspapers have staff photographers these days, but I hope you still get the point.
For any given reason, young workers don�t think this way�even if you explain the process. Young workers think multitasking is being able to put on makeup while eating and doing work.
Recent research conducted at several colleges, and authors, though, suggest that multitasking can be counterproductive. A working mother of two probably multitasks more than any average employee. Have a young worker tell a super-multitasking soccer mom that he or she has problems handling more than one task at a time.
We don�t want people who drive big-rig trucks while multitasking. That�s obvious. Nevertheless, it�s illogical and irresponsible to suggest the average worker in an office setting is incapable of balancing more than one task at a time.
Imagine a world without multitaskers. A certified pharmacy technician, for instance, has to handle multiple orders at the counter, take new prescriptions by phone, and attend to customers at the drive-thru window. Was there multitasking? Are you prepared to wait in line for 24 hours to get your prescription filled?
Tell it to an emergency room doctor working on a busy Friday night when there is a stabbing victim in one room, two car wreck victims in two other rooms, and a kid who broke his arm in a football game screaming in the triage. No multitasking?
Tell that to a person working at a fast-food restaurant or a waitress at a busy cafe. No multitasking? If the work world involved no multitasking, there would be a lot more angry customers.
While young workers need to realize that multitasking is possible and is not a dirty word, employers must do their part to provide proper guidance for multitasking. The boss needs to set an attainable multitasking goal and make sure efficient work is taking place. Moreover, it�s a good idea for employers to regularly talk to employees about their workload and analyze how it�s being handled.
Young workers often complain that they do all the work while their bosses sit behind a desk and act like an orchestra conductor in delegating tasks. Young workers need to realize the boss was once in their place and obviously learned how to properly do the job, which is why that person was promoted to the position.
Young workers don�t seem to have a problem multitasking in their private lives. In fact, they seem to prefer it. But when it comes to work, they cry foul. Schools at all levels can better prepare students for the workforce by engaging them in activities to teach them how to handle multiple tasks with freezing up. But these activities need to be positive ones. Kids don�t need to learn how to do homework while e-mailing, instant messaging, playing a video game, and updating a social networking blog.
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) experts certainly won�t like the idea of teaching kids how to multitask. They�ll say kids already are fed up without having to add more things to their slate. But it�s not about adding more things; it�s about prioritizing what you have on your slate and chipping away a bit at each item.
Some research has shown that those who handle multitasking best are people who play video games. Educators have frowned upon TV learning and video games, maybe looking at learning that incorporates video gaming is a possibility. This is an example of using technology as a tool in education instead of a replacement for learning. Video games make the user think several steps ahead and press multiple buttons simultaneously. This teaching tool is used in moderation, of course, because it can be addictive. Why not harness youth�s natural drive to play these games by offering in-class exercises? But you can�t stop there. It must be defined to the kids or young adults that the purpose is to teach handling multiple tasks. We don�t want to fail the kids again by making it their primary mode of learning. Lessons should follow based on the results, including accuracy assessments and overall scores. Students can discuss methods they use to handle the multiple tasks associated with the games and the ways to learn navigate the game.
Multitasking is only a dirty word if you don�t know how to do it.
Greg Deal has been in the newspaper business for 11 years, working as a sports writer in Hendersonville, N.C., and sports writer and editor in Greenwood, S.C., for five years before assuming roles as assistant managing editor and managing editor of the daily paper there.
Deal has moved on in his writing journey to become a full-time author and children's news Web site developer. He received an Associate of Arts degree from Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte and later a Bachelor of Arts degree in mass communications from the University of North Carolina at Asheville. He has a wife, Shea, and two children, ages 13 and 2.
Deal has covered everything from the Carolina Panthers to college and high school sports to major hard news stories. He's written commentary about the 2003 shooting deaths of two Abbeville, S.C., lawmen during a 13-hour standoff over a road-widening dispute that was called by the State Law Enforcement Division chief the "fiercest gunbattle" in state law enforcement history.
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