Protect focus without cutting people off
A working agreement for teams whose day is broken up by pings, drop-ins and back-to-back meetings
This page shows a finished agreement from Northstar, a fictional 34-person product team split between Lisbon and Toronto. Use it as a model for your own. The goal is not silence. It is that everyone knows which interruptions are worth the cost and which signal to use.
The interruptions that cost the most
Northstar listed what had actually broken up people's work over one fortnight. Four patterns came up most:
- Unlabelled urgency. A message that says "quick question" with no deadline makes the reader guess whether to stop now.
- Repeat context switches. The same person is pulled out of deep work three or four times in a morning for questions that could be answered in one batch.
- Scattered meetings. A 30-minute meeting at 10:30 and another at 12:00 leaves no usable block between them.
- Time-zone spill. Requests sent at the end of one location's day land in the middle of another's focus block.
Start your own agreement the same way. Ask each person for the last three interruptions that cost them more than they were worth, and group them.
Principles in this agreement
Northstar's agreement rests on four principles. They are a static summary of what the team agreed, not a checklist to complete and not a certification.
- Say how urgent a request is and give a needed-by time, in the team's own local time and in the requester's.
- Use the agreed route for each kind of request: written channel first, direct call only when the table below says so.
- Treat a calendar focus block as a request for fewer interruptions. It does not block a genuine exception.
- Name an exception out loud when you use one, so the team can see whether it keeps recurring.
Two requests, two different routes
The same person, Maya, is in a two-hour focus block. Here is how the agreement handles two requests that arrive during it.
Can wait: a question about a design label
Sam wants to know which wording the team prefers for a button. Nothing is blocked.
- Sam posts in the written team channel with the question and the options.
- Maya replies after her focus block, or by the end of the next working day.
- No call, no direct message, and no one waits on the answer.
Cannot wait: a release dependency due today
Priya needs Maya's approval before a release goes out at 16:00 Lisbon time on the date stated in the invitation.
- Priya mentions Maya in the channel with "Needed by 15:00 Lisbon on the release date; blocks the release", includes that date, and uses a date-aware calendar invitation to show Maya the local equivalent.
- If there is no reply in 30 minutes, Priya calls Maya's work phone or video line.
- Priya records the exception in the team's exceptions thread afterwards.
How Northstar protects focus
The completed example: overlap hours, focus blocks and the agreed contact signals
After sorting their interruptions, Northstar made three choices.
- A shared overlap window. For the week being planned, the team checks the local-time overlap in a date-aware calendar and agrees a two-hour meeting window that falls within both locations’ working arrangements. The window is checked again around daylight-saving changes. Outside that window, a meeting needs a reason stated in the invitation.
- Individual focus blocks. Everyone marks at least two blocks of 90 minutes or more each week on their calendar with the label "Focus". Blocks are placed outside the overlap window where possible.
- One page of contact signals. The table below sets out the four routes, and every new team member reads it in their first week.
Northstar also agreed that notifications are off by default for the written channel during focus blocks. Phones and video lines stay on for the one situation that justifies them. Messages are written in plain, short sentences so they translate well and read clearly on a phone screen.
The response times below are this fictional team's own choices, not service levels or organization policy.
Northstar's contact signals
Pick the lightest route that gets the request answered in time.
| Signal | Use it when | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Post in the written channel | Nothing is blocked and the answer can wait | Reply by end of next working day |
| Mention a person with a needed-by time | Work is blocked today and you have a deadline | Reply, or a stated time they can reply, before your needed-by time |
| Call or video line | A mention got no reply in 30 minutes and a release or customer commitment is at risk today | The person picks up or returns the call as soon as they can |
| Calendar status "Focus" | You are protecting a block of deep work | Fewer interruptions, not none. An exception is still allowed |
Who does what
Three roles keep the agreement working. These are responsibilities, not job titles.
Any team member
Proposes changes and flags problems with the norms.
- Suggest a change in the exceptions thread or at the next review.
- Say so when a norm does not work for your location, language or device.
Team lead
Keeps the agreement visible and models it.
- Share the agreement with every new team member in their first week.
- Use the same signals for their own requests and mark their own focus blocks.
Review facilitator
Runs the review. This is a rotating role, not always the team lead.
- Put the review on the team calendar every quarter.
- Bring the exceptions thread and ask which ones need a faster route.
Revisit the agreement and its exceptions
An agreement that never changes quietly stops being used
Northstar reviews its agreement every quarter, and sooner when one of these happens:
- The team's locations, shift patterns or coverage change.
- The same exception appears three or more times in the exceptions thread.
- Someone reports that a norm does not work for their language, device or access needs.
Questions for the review
- Which interruptions still cost more than they were worth, and which signal did they use?
- Which exceptions keep recurring, and do they need a faster, agreed route instead?
- Did anyone not have a fair chance to join the overlap window? What would fix that?
This is a team agreement. If it ever conflicts with an organization policy on working arrangements, availability or meetings, the policy applies. Raise the conflict with your team lead so the agreement can be corrected.
Before relying on a company policy, check its stated audience, location and effective period. Ask the policy owner when applicability is unclear.