To me, if you are the one doing the approaching and interrupting of someone else's time, then you should abide by their preferences.
> “Sometimes in an attempt to be more efficient, we do things that make the process less efficient.”
in the article it is followed immediately by:
> In enacting civility, two themes emerged:
>
> Civility was viewed as preventing a situation from escalating, and ultimately attaining a beneficial outcome. “We would not want events to get out of hand,” said one employee.
>
> Employees believe it is intrinsically important to be respectful and understanding. Said one participant, “consideration should be given to the feelings and ideas of each person.”
i think that civility and being respectful (which would mean curtailing extraneous conversation) is considerably different from wasting someone's time with irrelevant discussion