Speak Up, Speak Out (HBR Women at Work Series)

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How to Handle Interrupting Colleagues

by Francesca Gino

You’re giving a presentation on the company’s strategic direction when one of your colleagues interrupts you. You pause, address his question, and continue with your point—until he interrupts again. Sound familiar?

All of us have known colleagues, friends, or romantic partners who seem unable to let us finish a sentence. How do you handle them effectively? There are a number of tactics. But it is important to understand when and why people interrupt others.

When and Why People Interrupt Others

Here are some of the aspects to consider about what may be driving people to interrupt others.

Different cultural norms

At the beginning of my relationship with my husband, I constantly interrupted ...