{
  "title": "Project management: what does switching tasks cost?",
  "url": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/gestion-de-projet-le-cout-des-changements-de-tache-en",
  "language": "en",
  "datePublished": "2026-02-17",
  "publisher": {
    "name": "SHR — Swiss Human Resources",
    "url": "https://www.shr.swiss",
    "address": "Esplanade de Pont-Rouge 9A, 1212 Lancy, Suisse"
  },
  "summary": "Assigning someone to several projects can look like an efficient use of their availability. Research suggests distinguishing allocated time from attention that is actually available.",
  "section": "Research",
  "topic": "Project Management",
  "place": {
    "name": "Fribourg",
    "region": "Fribourg",
    "country": "CH"
  },
  "keyPoints": [
    {
      "heading": "What the literature establishes",
      "point": "Sophie Leroy (2009, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes) examines “attention residue”: when someone switches tasks, some of their attention may remain attached to the previous one."
    },
    {
      "heading": "The mechanism behind task switching",
      "point": "Joshua S."
    },
    {
      "heading": "The premature conclusion",
      "point": "One might conclude that each person should work on only one project."
    },
    {
      "heading": "What the schedule cannot reveal",
      "point": "These experimental findings do not directly measure the effects of reorganising work in a Fribourg company."
    },
    {
      "heading": "A practical check in Fribourg",
      "point": "Within SHR’s “[Project Management](/formation/gestion-de-projet/fribourg)” programme, a proposed exercise in Fribourg could focus on a project involving an agri-food business, a bilingual industrial partner and a team from the university hub."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "authors": "Leroy",
      "year": "2009",
      "source": "Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes"
    },
    {
      "authors": "Evans",
      "year": "2001",
      "source": "Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance"
    }
  ],
  "wordCount": 387,
  "image": "https://www.shr.swiss/img/blog-editorial-2026-02-17-en.jpg?v=4",
  "translations": {
    "fr": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/gestion-de-projet-le-cout-des-changements-de-tache",
    "en": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/gestion-de-projet-le-cout-des-changements-de-tache-en",
    "de": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/gestion-de-projet-le-cout-des-changements-de-tache-de",
    "it": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/gestion-de-projet-le-cout-des-changements-de-tache-it"
  },
  "relatedPages": {
    "programme": "https://www.shr.swiss/formation/gestion-de-projet/fribourg",
    "city": "https://www.shr.swiss/formations-ville/fribourg",
    "blog": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog"
  },
  "citationPolicy": "Citation autorisée avec mention « SHR — Swiss Human Resources » et lien vers l'article."
}