How to Have an Open Door Policy (Part 2 of 2)
January 28th, 2007Today, we conclude our conversation on Open Door Polices.
Between this week and last, we cover seven and a half key points:
- Clear definition of Open Door
- My door Is always open to anyone
- Always means always, with 3 caveats and a trump card
- No conversation is off the record. NEVER.
- Your first job is to listen
- Some suggestions on the meeting itself
- Your second job is to engage the chain of command
- Follow up
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January 29th, 2007 at 4:09 pm
Another great podcast! I found the point of setting the expectations with the person very helpful. With this there is no misunderstanding about what you will or won’t do.
By the way, I didn’t see the link to the sample e-mail announcing your open door policy. Possibly I just missed it.
Thanks very much,
Jim
January 30th, 2007 at 2:44 am
Wow. I had no idea that I had no idea what an open door policy really meant. I’ve heard it referred to with no explanation by department directors at my not-for-profit organization, but I always assumed that it was just a way of saying, somewhat casually, that the director wanted to be available to his/her staff on a daily basis without the necessity of formal appointment-making. Pretty far off the mark, eh?
So, thanks for the very clear explanation! I listened to both podcasts on the way to work this morning, and then I talked another manager (a peer) through it during lunch. He had never come across this kind of description before either. I’m starting to realize that there are probably a lot of managers at my organization who could really use the information you are providing. I’m thinking of starting up a manager’s lunch a couple of times each month and playing some of the episodes off your website. I’ll let you know how it goes–maybe in person, if I manage to make it to the Chicago meet-up whenever that opportunity arises.
Thanks again, Mike and Mark.
January 30th, 2007 at 5:03 am
Hi Mike and Mark, I’m a newcomer and so far I’ve been very enlightened by the content of your podcasts. Thank you for sharing. I had one question about this particular policy. What and how much responsibilty do we have as managers to document these discussions? Should they be documented and kept on file for future reference? Have a great week.
January 30th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
OK I admit I’d rather search for the ’sample’ email that you mentioned we might use to send out regarding the Open Door Policy than craft my own. If there is one, where is it. If not, I’ll go to work crafting. Excellent ideas and thanks so much for all your hard work.
January 30th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Excellent podcast. I hope to introduce our HR department to your definition of an open door policy in hopes that all new managers coming on board will take this to heart and effectively change our corporation over time.
Could you provide some direction on dealing with the following? A senior manager several levels up has received a complaint and has asked my department to take action. We are not provided with details like date or time or the name of the complainant, but we are asked to make changes to our service offering. Is it within the rights of a middle manager to suggest that without details, we cannot truly fix the suggested problem, or do we attempt to change our services and ask for feedback from the senior manager regarding how close we came to the target?
Keep the podcasts coming, they are certainly opening my eyes to a better way to manage.
Thanks.
January 30th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
Sorry everyone … my fault. I’ll get the document out as soon as I get back to the office!
February 1st, 2007 at 10:07 am
hey guys, great podcast. The major point for me was the conclusion of a clarifying communiation pre-teaching and proactivly setting up the process via an email to all staff. I have always found that the more we as managers can pre-teach to an behavior, skill or goal that better off every one is - fix while the problem is small. But I can’t find the sample email, did you say it was on line to download so we could replace Acme with our own org.
Tom Waite
February 1st, 2007 at 2:45 pm
Tom/All,
The document is now available … you’ll find it at the bottom of the blog post, or you can get it directly here.
I apologize for the delay.
Mike
February 9th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Something you talked about in your podcast is that discussions cannot be ‘off the record’. Maybe this reflects differences int he environments we’ve experienced but, I think that is a very dangerous assertion. Whilst it is true that at certain stages anonymity cannot be maintained (e.g. if the employee reveals illegality that has to be taken to law enforcement) it is not always impossible.
Anonymity can be important as often employees have a very real fear of being targetted for dismissal or worse if they reveal problems or wrong doing. I’m aware of literally dozens of cases where employees have suffered bullying from other staff (including assaults) and abuses of performance management policies by management, resulting in them being sacked or leaving with stress related illnesses, simply because they fulfilled their legal duty to report breaches of health and safety regulations or illegal activity.
In most of the environments I’ve worked in a refusal to allow an off the record discussion would be tantamount to a refusal to hear complaints. I believe a more reasonable approach would be to take the approach that many counsellors take which is to respond to a request for an off the record discussion by saying something along the lines of “If I can reasonably act on this without bringing your name into it then I will do so but you need to be aware that if what you tell me means that I have to take action I may have to reveal that it was you who told me. If that happens I shall do my utmost to ensure that you are not unreasonably affected.”
Consider the following scenario, the actual scenario is hypothetical but it is closely modelled on an actual event at a site I worked at some years ago. You are a middle manager in a not for profit organisation that provides long term (pretty much for life) care for people with learning difficulties (i.e. mental handicap/retardation) responsible for an area. You personally oversee approximately 30 homes spread accross 5 sites in you area, each home has a manager who reports to a site manager, each site manager reports to you. A care worker contacts you and asks to see you under the open door policy, you make an appointment to see them a couple of days later on the care worker’s day off. They show up at the appointment looking very nervous and ask for the meeting to be off the record, you refuse. They state that events in the home they work in lead them to believe that if they allow their name to be attached to a complaint they will be victimised and subject to bullying, you still refuse to hear their complaint off the record. They leave.
A week later you are informed that a resident died the previous evening and there might be some fall out from it. the next phone call you recieve is from the local newspaper asking why you refused to listen to reports from a member of staff about concerns over mistreatment of residents by certain staff, mistreatment that has now lead to the death of a resident.
How do you respond?
Stephen
March 21st, 2007 at 8:30 pm
Rgreen-
Do you mean taking notes during an open door meeting - someone using YOUR open door?
These conversations are absolutely ON the record. I shy away from the word documentation, because it conjures up images of carbon copies and signatures - completely unnecessary. Just take notes. If you are told something that you are bound to report, REPORT IT.
Otherwise, folks take advantage.
Mark
March 21st, 2007 at 8:33 pm
Stephen-
I think we agree. I think if an employee wants to be off the record, that’s an issue. On the other hand, if they say something after you’ve said that, and you don’t act, that’s your fault as the manager.
Mark
March 21st, 2007 at 8:35 pm
J Heapy-
Sure, you can push back on that. I would. I wouldn’t consider a case of “rights”, as there isn’t much place for those at work… but I wouldn’t change stuff without getting good data.
Mark
June 24th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
I have just listened to the 2 podcasts on Open Door Policy. I am embroiled in this issue at work, and what the actual “meaning” of open door implies. I thought your info was “right on”. I have looked and cannot find what your credentials are. Would you please email me this information or give me a link? Thank you. Linda
July 22nd, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Like Sally Craft, I had the idea that an “open door policy” was some sort of vague statement that a manager was available for staff to come see him or her without an appointment. I found your definition very interesting. I think this potential mis-understanding emphasizes the importance of communicating this policy clearly and explicitly if you want to implement it.
Eric Monrad