Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
Try Time Triage
As a project manager, finding the time to concentrate on your own work can be difficult. If you’re frequently interrupted by work emergencies, closing your door might be tempting, but there are negative consequences. A better alternative is to apply the Triage method, and to teach your team to do the same.
“Do you have a second?” If that question makes you cringe, it’s probably because you’re constantly interrupted by the people you manage. It’s not their fault. They actually do need your input, your guidance, your decision or just your two cents. Of course you want to make yourself available to them. But you also need them to leave you alone long enough to get something done.
A common technique that often backfires is the closed door. When people see a closed door, they assume something private is going on inside. In many offices, anything private tends to be bad news. Closed doors make some people nervous. The rest of them will just knock and come on in anyway.
So how are you supposed to find time to concentrate on your own work? The trick is to train your staff when to interrupt you and when not to.
The first thing you need to teach them is the triage method — that old battlefield system of sorting through the wounded can also be applied to interruptions. The simplest triage system provides basic guidelines for judging …
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