Most of us have heard of open door policies – literally this tends to mean you can stop by and talk to your boss anytime, you do not need an appointment if they are in their office. I could write a chapter on open door policies and how: (i) as an employee you need to understand your boss more than just taking advantage of an open door, (ii) managers need to manage interruptions and simultaneously support an open door culture (balance – an important word in almost all management issues!), (iii) regardless of a company’s policy and the status of one’s door, it is easy to insure no one stops by and interrupts you even if you don’t mean to insure this. (Side bar: An open door policy is not a real policy but rather a statement about an organization’s approach to employee-supervisor interaction). But for this blog, I want to focus more broadly on the connection between open doors, organizational cultures and coffee shops.
So the first question on your mind should be “what do coffee shops have to do with this”! Bear with me on that question, I will get to it. First, I want to emphasize a few things about open doors and transparent cultures. Open doors do not just pertain to managers and their employees. That is, when an organization asks their managers to encourage an open door policy, what they really mean is that everyone needs to have an open door. Especially in today’s team-based, fast-paced, empowered environment, people need to communicate constantly, concisely and solve problems in real time. There is no better way to do this than being able to stop by someone’s office or call them for a quick chat (yes, open doors can be translated as open phones, open Skype accounts, open IM, etc. in today’s Web 2.0[2] based environment!) In the actual physical office environment the negative impact is tremendous when you walk down a hallway and see a bunch of closed doors. The signal these closed doors are sending is “don’t bother me”. In some cases this is exactly the signal you need to send. For example, you are in a meeting, you are on the phone, or you are working on such a critical project that you cannot be disturbed. But for the most part, the activities that require a closed door should be rare for most positions, especially the last reason of “working on a critical project”.
I can hear what some of you are thinking in response to this: (i) but I need a bit of peace and quiet to get my work done, and (ii) if I don’t close my door, I get so many interruptions that I get nothing done. To these comments I say – get over yourself! OK, that is a little strong but what I mean is that your role as an employee is to enable the organization to be the most successful (effective, efficient, etc) that it can be. You need to help optimize the entire system we call an organization. And in some cases that might really mean that you need to have a closed door more often than what I am implying above. Nonetheless, these cases are rare and in my experience it is a personal preference that ends up being a barrier to optimizing the system because you are more comfortable staying in your office with the door closed. Push yourself, get out of your comfort zone, consider what the organization needs, help develop the culture that makes your organization the best it can be. In today’s competitive environment, every employee needs to contribute to organizational success and optimization. And how can you do that hiding in your office? You might get your little piece of the puzzle done but are you really contributing most effectively to the organization? How can you be sure you are even doing the right piece if you are not communicating with others about what the organization needs?
Now I hear some of you saying: But my organization spends too much time “chit-chatting” around the water cooler so I need to hide out in my office to get real work done. Fair enough and admirable that you don’t want to get caught up in what you perceive as too much socializing. (Side bar: There is an important, valuable role for socializing in building a relationship of trust and understanding so an organization can be robust and conflicts can be resolved quickly instead of spinning out of control into time wasters and distractions. Balance is the key word again but some organizations do in fact have a social environment that goes beyond what is best for the organization). So let’s assume you are right and that is the case in your organization. How can you help change that hiding out in your office!?! And don’t tell me it is not in your job description to change it. If it impacts the success of your organization and you can help change it, then I say it is in your job description.
So now to the “coffee shop” part. As many of you know, when I need to work steadily on something which requires a bit of intense, creative thought, I like to go to coffee shops (I know I have seen several of you at Francesca’s on Sunday afternoons – maybe I was working on this blog!) The noise and distractions generally help me focus – don’t ask me why, probably something about growing up in a household of four noisy siblings. But recently the distractions were just that, distractions! I was sitting next to a supervisor and his employee and I was hearing, yes … their annual performance review! And then a few days later, I was sitting next to a table of several people in a ‘meeting’ where the primary focus was anger about one of the team members (not present) doing a lousy job due to poor management by one of the folks at the table, at least according to another one of the folks at the table. In this second case, I thought there was going to be a physical altercation after some choice curse words!
So what was my reaction in both these cases – I was horrified! I thought; How can you give an effective performance review in a public place? How can a team meeting provide legitimate open discussion in a public place? But actually, the performance review was quite good (empathetic but firm, positive but plenty of constructive criticism) and after the team meeting almost came to fisticuffs (is that a real word still?) they all left smiling and chatting and talking about what they had planned for the weekend! Clearly I had witnessed (OK, eavesdropped on!) constructive conflict, not interpersonal, negative, inefficient conflict.
So as I thought about it more, my mind set changed from horrified to ‘maybe this is a new paradigm’? Maybe this is the ultimate in transparency! We want open doors and lots of effective communication. We know that transparency, except where limited by law, is usually best for an organization. As long as we are communicating about substantive issues that impact our organization and not just gossip and rumor, transparency enables buy-in. Maybe these coffee shop conversations were simply extreme examples of transparency. These groups were not worried about the public forum because they were saying things that were, although perhaps confrontational, accurate and real and nothing that needed to be hidden behind closed doors. Hmmmmm? Maybe this is even part of the new Web 2.0 environment that creates sharing across all types of time and space. Maybe I should have interrupted and made some suggestions after listening to the performance review or just complimented them! A kind of “Wikipedia-like Performance Review” – anyone who has good ideas can contribute. There is a well known management principal called “MBWA” (Management by Walking Around) to proactively get input from your team and develop rapport with your employees. Maybe the equivalent for all employees, not just managers is, DJWA (Doing your Job by Walking Around)! And if we throw in the virtual Web 2.0 world that I think is helping to drive transparency and communication, it may even be DJFA (Doing your Job by Facebooking Around). OK, I am a bit off track – back to the main points:
- Open your office door, maybe even walk around and talk to your colleagues
- Encourage substantive, honest communication, even when it is uncomfortable
- Remember that ‘your job is not just your job’, it is really to make the organization successful
- In all things organizational, balance is a key concept (including how you interpret this blog!)
- Spend more time working in Coffee Shops (oh, that is just for me!)
[1] This title is a ‘case in point’ for my last Blog – I make more ‘creative connections’ in the summer when the operational pressures decrease a bit.
[2] Wikipedia: The term “Web 2.0” describes the changing trends in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aim to enhance creativity, communications, secure information sharing, collaboration and functionality of the web.
"Engineering Management Thought of the Week" Jeff Glass 
Talking about transparent cultures, I find more and more offices nowadays (especially those in tech or advertising fields) take transparency literally by replacing walls with glass thereby still giving you some degree of privacy (to make those phone calls) while maintaining the illusion of an open environment.
And even the standard office cubicle has undergone a ‘see’ change, you can now see your fellow co-workers just by craning your neck ever so slightly!
– Arjun Reddy
Very good point (and “see” change – funny!). The use of glass is entirely different now than 20 years ago and certianly speaks to this goal of transparency. With glass, you can have an open door “feel” top an office space even when people need to have their doors closed for confidential meetings. And your point about cubicles is also very true. Professor Hopper noted that cubicle offices are more like coffee shops than traditional office spaces!
There was a talk I attended earlier this year, in which a senior executive from Glaxo Smith Kline pointed out that graduate researchers have the tendency to want to work continuously without distractions, at their desk, thinking that is the most productive use of their time. Then she said, “Do me a favor, get away from your computer or lab bench and go eat lunch with a colleague!”. Amen to that.