For years, leaders have proudly announced their “open door policy” for employees. From a communications perspective, this may sound like a good move. After all, the best leaders listen to their team members, are available to assist with problems, and want their employees to know that they always have their backs.

In theory, an open door policy sounds like a good move, but in actuality, it could lead to bigger problems.

The Problem with an Open Door Policy

While giving employees access to you at all times throughout the day may give the appearance of good communication, it can cause havoc on your business and your mental health.

Loss of Productivity

Whether you’re diving into financials, writing a proposal for a potential client, or brainstorming the future direction of your organization, you need to focus. In fact, everything you do requires focus. Unfortunately, every time someone pops into your office (physically or virtually), you get distracted.

It’s okay, I can multitask.

Actually, you can’t. According to the Harvard Business Journal, “Sadly, multitasking does not exist, at least not as we think about it. We instead switch tasks. Our brain chooses which information to process.”

This means that you aren’t answering “quick questions” while maintaining your focus on your work. You’re actually putting your primary work on the back burner while you address the person and problem in front of you. The worst part? It takes an average of 15 minutes to re-orient yourself back to the primary task. This means your efficiency can drop by as much as 40%.

Excessive Dependence on Leadership

A good leader wants their employees to be self-sufficient. This means they are able to utilize available resources, manage conflict appropriately, and make decisions in the best interest of the organization.

The problem with an open door policy, is employees have too much access to you. If they can just walk into your office at any time and get their questions answered, they have no need to troubleshoot, or solve problems on their own. You will actually disempower them.

Overwhelm and Resentment

You are only one person. Whether you have a team of 5 people, 50, 500, or 5,000, there is only so much you can do. If you are constantly interrupted throughout the work day, you’ll fall behind in the critical tasks that move your business forward. Rather than let things fall through the cracks, you’ll be tempted to work outside of business hours to complete your tasks without interruption. This could mean being at the office too early or too late, working at home when you should be relaxing and focusing on your personal relationships, or skipping vacations so you can “get it all done.”

In addition to feeling overwhelmed and burned out, you’ll begin to resent your employees. Asking yourself questions like:

• “Why are they so needy?”
• “Can’t they figure anything out on their own?”
• “Why do I feel more like a kindergarten teacher than a boss?”

The hardest part is accepting that your employees are this way… because you trained them to be.

The Solution: An Open Calendar Policy

Yes, a good leader should encourage open communication! You want your employees to feel comfortable coming to you with questions, problems, ideas, and solutions. However, in order to protect the well being of your company, and your own sanity, you’ll need to set boundaries around your availability and accessibility.

First, create (if you haven’t already) a chain of communication. This isn’t a big deal if you’ve got a team of 5, but when you get into the double digits and beyond, you can not be available for absolutely everyone. You’ll need to make it known that there are channels employees must go through. You will also need to delegate to your managers, setting them up as the go-to resource. (Repeat after me: I can not be everything to everyone.) When you do this, be sure to encourage them to have their own boundaries.

Next, allow me to introduce (queue the trumpets) the Open Calendar policy.  (Ooooh… ahhhh…). Your door may not be open, but that doesn’t mean employees can’t book time to speak with you. Determine how much time you can dedicate to this, and make it available on your calendar. You can also incorporate “office hours” into your schedule like a college professor. This means employees know they have set times they can drop by to chat.  If your employees are remote, this can be set up as virtual office hours.

You may also want to consider walking tours, where you make time to walk through the business and speak with employees who may not normally have access to you.

Note: Emergencies happen. If a project is in crisis, or decisions have to be made in the moment, that are above your employees’ ability, you don’t want to send them a calendar link. When you make yourself unavailable for the small problems, you will be available for the problems that require your attention.

Conclusion

As a leader, you will need to dictate when and how you are accessible to your team members. Train them to troubleshoot and seek out solutions before they come to you, and empower them to make decisions on their own.

Setting healthy boundaries will not only protect your mental health, but will improve your business and the lives of your employees.