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“I follow an open-door policy so everyone can get me when they need me.”
In this era of participative management, this statement has a nice ring to it. People can get you when they need you. It sounds good but I disagree fully.
What happens when you are always available is that people can drop in, interrupt, or talk to you any time – you become frazzled by interruptions and stay late or come in early so you can get your work done in peace.
My belief is that when you are constantly available you are not showing respect to your own time. How can other people respect your time when you don’t? If I can drop in on you any time during the day to ask you a question, seek your advice or tell you how I’m doing, you never have the opportunity to focus on what you are responsible for.
You end not being able to actually do anything at work. Your concentration is often broken and you are distracted. Your time may not actually be equitable as well as some people may never just drop in – they assume you are too busy with other people. Some may not want to “bother” you.
The message can be mixed even with the best intentions.
I believe the solution is being accessible. The idea of office hours works well here. There is no question that your people need to be able to get to you on a regular basis. They do need your time. You also need your time to focus on what you need to do. The balance is having specific times – office hours – that people can access you.
You may say each day between 9.00am and 10.00am and 4.00pm and 5.00pm that you are open and available. People know when to drop in and see you. We know when you are accessible and can plan accordingly.
It is like an appointment. If you were in a meeting with a client, you would not want team members dropping in and checking with you about something. That would not happen. You need to treat your own time as being as important as being with a client. You are worth it.
Your people also love it as they know when you are accessible and also know that you respect your time and need to allocate blocks to work. When we see you respect your own time, we respect it and respect our own as well. We all pick up a bit in focus.
Be accessible – not available.
Just my opinion.
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