A problem with multitasking is that people may choose to work on a project that is not the most important project for the company to complete.
Assume a company that has six projects, started but not finished, in its portfolio.
The value of those projects, when delivered, will not be equal. Some will likely be 10x or 20x the revenue of others in the portfolio.
If people are multitasking, they are jumping around from project to project. The most important project to complete (A, let's say) is standing still while people work on the other projects. Every so often, A gets some attention and so it makes some progress towards completion. But before too it has to wait again when less important projects are worked.
The company suffers because valuable projects take longer than they should to complete and begin earning money for the company. Sales that are not made because the product is not available for sale are never recovered. Developers are deprived of the satisfaction of completing projects frequently because projects always seem to take too long to finish.
Bottom line, cutting your work in process often brings dramatic improvements.
Assume a company that has six projects, started but not finished, in its portfolio.
The value of those projects, when delivered, will not be equal. Some will likely be 10x or 20x the revenue of others in the portfolio.
If people are multitasking, they are jumping around from project to project. The most important project to complete (A, let's say) is standing still while people work on the other projects. Every so often, A gets some attention and so it makes some progress towards completion. But before too it has to wait again when less important projects are worked.
The company suffers because valuable projects take longer than they should to complete and begin earning money for the company. Sales that are not made because the product is not available for sale are never recovered. Developers are deprived of the satisfaction of completing projects frequently because projects always seem to take too long to finish.
Bottom line, cutting your work in process often brings dramatic improvements.
Thoughts?