Accumulation of interruptions to workflow

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Thomas Rigotti
• Subject Area: Social Psychology, Industrial and Organisational Psychology
• Term: from 2014 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 246284122

The aim of this project is to investigate the consequences of interruptions to workflow. Workflow interruptions will be defined as externally triggered events, and a temporary suspension of a person's goal-directed action. The vast majority of field studies up to date is cross-sectional, and has employed general measures of interruptions. Laboratory studies suggest that interruptions can be described with different features, leading to distinct outcomes. Also the processes of interruptions have been studied in detail in the lab, indicating the need of longitudinal studies in field settings. Within this project different features of interruptions (complexity, duration, frequency) will be measured continuously during working time using electronic tallies in a daily diary over five consecutive working days, and set in relation to strain measured after the working day, and before going to bed. Furthermore, person-, and task-related characteristics will be investigated as potential moderators. Thus, for the first time in a field study, the process, and consequences of accumulating interruptions are empirically tested, allowing for between-, as well as within-person analyses. Additionally heart rate variability will be measured continuously, as a sensitive physiological indicator of strain. The data will be analyzed using multilevel modeling.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants