it depends on what you are practiced at, in a different but related field ... plotting lighting cues in a theatre ... it is very common to be the designer and have someone else operating the desk, then keeping large sets of channel numbers and existing states in your head makes it a lot quicker and easier to communicate as you walk around the space. Casual observers find this dialogue very strange. Interestingly operating audio you often look down at the desk, operating lights the effect is visual and not looking at the desk is important.