Leadership Code

The open door policy came into being when the empowerment movement was gaining momentum. It was designed to combat the rising tide of employee dissatisfaction and cynicism that resulted from waves of layoffs and corporate restructurings. Over time it became one of the sacred cows of management practice and was seen as one of the foundations of being an effective manager. Today, the vast majority of managers have some type of open door policy because they either think it is a good idea or it is expected of them.

Like many management practices that get adopted into popular practice, the open door policy has good intentions. The basic structure of an open door policy is that an employee can drop in on a manager and talk about whatever is on their mind. Managers demonstrate their accessibility to employees by being available whenever the employee wants to talk. By making time for employees and listening, leaders demonstrate that they value what employees have to say. What could be wrong with a policy that has such positive aspirations?

My fundamental problem with the open door policy is not with its intentions, but rather with its implementation and practice. I find that very few managers can successfully pull off an open door policy. The reality is that having an open door policy causes more problems than it is worth for a manager and can lead to an erosion of credibility with employees. There are four problems that plague the open door policy. I'll cover the first two in this post.

Problem #1: Not enough time

The open door policy came into practice and gained popularity when the time demands on managers were much less than today. The pace of work has become so great that many managers have difficulty accomplishing what is expected of them and end up practicing a sort of triage-what is most urgent or loud gets attention. Most managers simply don’t have the time flexibility in their daily schedule to make the open door policy work.

Imagine yourself in this situation. You are racing to meet a deadline and are really behind. An employee drops by to discuss something on their mind. You have an open door policy and feel the pressure to listen. You would like to put the employee off to another time but feel you can’t. So you allow the employee to talk but your mind is elsewhere on the deadlines and tasks that are piling up. Or, even worse, your frustration and impatience show through. The employee picks up on your emotions or distraction and leaves feeling dissatisfied and dismissed.

Problem #2: Inconsistency

You say you have an open door policy and it is part of your stated management philosophy. But sometimes when someone drops in you put them off to another time. Other times you drop what you are doing and turn all of your attention to the employee. Here is the problem with being inconsistent on the open door policy; it becomes an issue of credibility. Do you do what you say? Employees will test you and your commitment to anything you say. Employees are used to management saying one thing and doing another, and are quick to jump on the distrust bandwagon. Even one violation of a stated policy starts to erode credibility. Once you formally commit to a practice-you must follow it to the letter. This is what I call the 100% Rule. Don’t commit to something if you can’t practice it consistently.