Much like pushing envelopes and raising bars and thinking outside of squares, keeping doors open is something that every manager who has read a pop-management book claims to do.
I’m a big fan of open plan offices. I’m probably hugely annoying to work with as I tend to provide unwanted commentary on the days events and get up and down about 16 times to make my 16 times cups of coffee. Moving around different offices you notice things. One thing I’m sure of, solo offices are a very bad thing and guaranteed to burn productivity.
Hot desks with lots of group spaces like little meeting rooms and coffee spots are the best. How to test my theory?
When you leave someone’s solo office after a meeting simply ask, “Would you like me to keep the door open, or should I close it?”
Solo office dweller will hesitate and say “ummm, yes..sure, open is fine” (because their pop-management books says that’s cool), wait till you leave and then quickly shut the door so they can keep looking at http://failblog.org
Peer pressure is a powerful thing. Every noticed how you jog much faster when you cross another person out jogging? Open plan offices self-regulate and create a healthy, egalitarian environment that minimises your risk of evil Napoleon dictatorships. Open plan offices also ensure that manager’s see the good and bad of processes and workers so they are realistic about how long things take, challenges and who really does what in a team.
The only way to have true open door policy is to have no door.
No comments:
Post a Comment