Do you think that people can effectively multi-task?

There is certainly a degree of context here. In the context that Riyadh is laying as the foundation for the discussion, I would say that I agree. One will suffer.

Yes, if there are periods of time when some task has zero activity, but then that contradicts the term.

So! No, is the final answer.

Depends on the nature of the call and who you're speaking with.

If the caller is priority, I'd simply stop writing the email or what I am doing and provide them with my full attention.

If the person on the phone is not so much a priority, but the email message I am in the middle of is, I would simply place them on a brief hold or ask to kindly call them back. This will give me the focus needed to finish my message and ensure I am clear with my objective.

As for a conference call, there should be no other distractions - Just your undivided attention to discuss the objective of the call with a pen and pad. There should be no checking of emails or doing other things. IMO, that's setting yourself up for failure on your part. Information might be missed, the objective might get lost, or nothing was clearly communicated.

The purpose of a conference call is to discuss a specific objective(s) at a specific start and finish time to complete.

Sante, that's where you get into trouble with your partner LOL she says you're not paying enough attention to me - your project is more important than me. :)

Riyadh -

If the meeting isn't worth your undivided attention then don't attend it.

Leaders who multitask (and are caught doing so) send the message to their teams that it's okay to do so.

Kiron