Articles by Lonnie Pacelli Building Thriving Leaders™

Be Accessible, Not Open-Door

7/7/2025

Excerpted from The Truth about Getting Your Point Across…and Nothing But the Truth

Project Management Books, Project Management Articles and Project Management Seminars from Project Management Expert Lonnie Pacelli, The Project Management Advisor

The phrase “I have an open door policy” was very intriguing to me in my early career. As a younger staff person, I envisioned the day when I could be a supportive, empathetic manager who was able to respond to any of my employees’ needs, questions, and comments whenever they needed me. I envisioned people coming to my door (which was open, of course), asking, “Got a minute?” then me leaving my work, talking with the employee, them thanking me for being such an inspirational manager, then me going back to my work and picking up just like I never left it. Ah, the naiveté.

When I actually became a manager, I shortly thereafter gave my empathetic, “I have an open door policy” speech and was ready to solve problems for anyone who crossed my threshold.

Within a few months of my open door policy, I saw my own productivity drop and my frustration level rise because I kept getting interrupted by people taking me up on my open-door policy. My open-door policy soon turned into a series of random interruptions that caused me to not get my stuff done. I came to recognize that I needed to be accessible to people but that I could control the accessibility through scheduled time. Open-door means be accessible, not come in whenever you want.

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Be Accessible, Not Open-Door

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