Is Your Open Door Policy Actually Closing Doors?
- JG
- May 5
- 2 min read
Nearly every leader claims to have an “open door policy.” It is the standard icon for accessibility and transparency. But when practice isn't backed by principle, it becomes a barrier, not a bridge.
You believe your door is open. You believe that means you are accessible. But you are confusing a passive invitation with a genuine connection. You have not removed the single biggest barrier to communication. You.
Your title. Your authority. Your power. They all create an invisible wall around you. For a member of your team to walk through your open door they must make a conscious decision to cross that wall. To risk being labelled a complainer. Or incompetent. Or a waste of your time. The burden of courage is 100% on them.
An open-door policy is not a connection tool. It is a test of your team’s courage. And it is a test that most will fail.
True accessibility is not passive. It is active. It is not about waiting for people to come to you. It is about having the discipline and humility to go to them.
Go Where the Work Happens
Your office is a sterile environment. The work. The real work. The real problems and the real frustrations happen somewhere else. It happens on the factory floor. In the code repositories. In the customer service call queue. Get up and out of your chair. Manage by wandering around. Be a regular, quiet presence in your team’s work environment. Your very presence lowers the barrier to approach.
Schedule Listening Tours
Don’t wait for problems to come to you. Go hunting. Proactively schedule short, informal 1:1s with people at all levels of your team. Have no agenda other than to ask a few simple questions.
“What is making your work harder than it needs to be?”
“What is one thing we should stop doing immediately?”
“What is something you are proud of that no one has noticed?”
Ask Questions That Invite Honesty
“How’s it going?” is not a question. It is a greeting. You must ask better, more specific questions that signal a genuine interest in hearing the truth. “What is the most frustrating part of our current process?” “If you were me, what is the one thing you would change tomorrow?” These types of questions show you are not looking for pleasantries. You are looking for reality.
Stop hiding behind your open door. Go find your team.
REMEMBER
An open-door policy puts the burden of courage on your employee. A great leader takes on that burden themselves.
REFLECT
When was the last time a team member walked through my “open door” with a truly difficult problem or dissenting opinion?
Do I spend more time in my own office or in the places where my team actually works?
RESPOND
Who is one person on my team I will schedule a “no agenda” listening session with this week?
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