The Perils of Multitasking
Multitasking is usually considered a good thing. Many job listing will ask for and many applicants will claim to have multitasking abilities. When looking at your employees and operations, you should make clear what your definition of multitasking is. If they think multitasking is doing several things at once, you may have a big problem on your hands... Wouldn't you rather have your staff do one thing at a time really well rather than many mediocre things at once? If you are in a professional services industry for example, multitasking can result in mistakes that can hurt your business as well as your clients. The time it takes to clean up a multitask mess will outweigh any time saved trying to multitask...
I like to think as multitasking as having several things pending that need to get done, but prioritizing them in a way that you can get through them faster and smarter than jumping around constantly and trying to remember where you left off.
In the age of technology it's easy to get distracted and jump around, but staying focused on one task at a time should prove more productive than multitasking several things at once. I like to start my day with a "To Get Done" list, not a "To Do" list. "To Do" leaves way too much room for procrastination. When you know you have things that need to get done, you are more likely to do them. I know lists are old school, but it's very gratifying to scratch something off that you took care of. Having the list helps me prioritize what I'm going to accomplish for the day. Sometimes I do forget to create a list and these days I usually can reflect back and feel less productive that when I work off my list...
Consider spending some time with staff observing in a helpful way on making them more productive in accomplishing many things ONE at a time. This is definitely a learned skill for most. You will likely personally learn something from your staff and you can be more productive together by being less scattered. Think before using the word multitasking and make sure everyone at your business is on the same page.