Think You Can Handle All Those Projects At Once? You Might Want To Think Again.

Consider a typical day at work. Do you see yourself simultaneously switching between numerous different projects? The ability to multitask is often viewed as an advantage. After all, many individuals put this proficiency on their resume under key skills, and employers often include this ability as a desired skill in job postings. However, a study conducted by researchers at Stanford Universityⁱ found that, counter-intuitively, multitasking may actually not be as beneficial as previously thought. The results of this study could have a profound impact on how the business world views multitasking.

The researchers at Stanford initially held the mindset that individuals who are considered high multitaskers are able to perform multiple tasks, in high quality, at the same time. In examining this belief, the scientists hypothesized that multitasking individuals perform better due to three possible talents:

• Ability to ignore distractions
• Enhanced memories
• Ability to quickly switch focus between different areas

To examine these talents, 100 Stanford students were first classified as high or low multitaskers based on a questionnaire that asked the individuals to rate the number of media sources they use simultaneously (i.e., cell phone, television, computer). They were then given three different tasks to assess their proficiency in each aptitude. First, to test their ability to ignore distractions, participants were asked to only focus on red rectangles on a screen. Second, participants' were quizzed on where in a sequence of letters there were repeats. This task was intended to measure participants' memories. Finally, subjects were given lists of numbers and letters and instructed to only focus on one of the stimuli at a time. This final task measured participants' ability to quickly alternate focus between different subject areas.

The scientists continuously found that low multitaskers performed better than high multitaskers on all of the given tasks, contrary to their hypotheses. Considering this study, although it is commonly believed multitasking is a useful skill, researchers are not yet able to prove this assumption holds truth.

Multitasking is a common practice in the workplace, and in that regard, employees and managers can gain some perspective from this study. Although the results indicate that multitasking could be an obstacle to success, there are best practice techniques that can be used to increase the effectiveness of multitasking.

One important matter to note regarding this study in relation to multitasking in the workplace is that perhaps the examined tasks were not conducive to Engagement. Projects in which individuals are more engrossed may lead to better outcomes of multitasking. Capitalizing on this idea, it is important to provide job content that captures employees' interests and skills, and to hire individuals who are invested in that particular job content. Communication regarding job content is considered a best practice and leads to higher Employee Engagement. Through communication, employers can also determine whether employees are receiving jobs at which they excel, which may be more conducive to successful multitasking.

Employees may feel it is necessary to multitask in order to accomplish all of their assignments, but this perception could have a detrimental impact on performance. Managers should communicate with employees to understand whether they are so overburdened by their duties that they feel the need to multitask at all times. If so, leadership teams should consider rearranging the workload or changing deadlines to make work more manageable for employees.

The results of this particular study seem to indicate that multitasking could actually be leading to more negative outcomes than people realize. Perhaps the advantages of multitasking would be more evident in the workplace with the use of the aforementioned best practices.

ⁱ Gorlick, Adam. "Media multitaskers pay mental price, Stanford study shows." Stanford Report Online. http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/august24/multitask-research-study-082409.html. Retrieved June 27, 2011.