Nominate Your Team Teach Connect Organisation Admin Today
Articles Creating an Effective Open-Door Policy
Across our organisations, many of us strive to embed an effective open-door policy as part of our leadership and management practice. Done well, this approach can yield a number of benefits.
An open-door policy aims to ensure that all members of our community feel comfortable to communicate safely and openly with managers and leaders. Whether it’s sharing new ideas, raising concerns or complaints, asking a question, or reaching out for help and support, an effective open-door policy ensures equitable access for all.
Contrary to what the name might suggest, an open-door policy doesn’t mean that everyone is free to come into your space whenever they choose. It can take many different forms: it could involve the sharing of scheduled office hours for managers or leaders; a weekly reminder for staff to check in and catch up with us, with the facility to book a mutually convenient time slot; regular team meetings where transparency and open dialogue are encouraged; or an ongoing commitment to empower all stakeholders to share their ideas, concerns, questions or complaints in a safe, blame- and judgement-free environment.
An effective open-door policy:
To provide the best care and support for those in our settings, we need to forge strong partnerships with families. Parents, carers and others in an individual’s support network can often provide great insights that we can incorporate into our own practice.
Having an open-door policy that, where appropriate, extends to families allows for the creation of an open culture where we welcome parents and carers into our setting, listen to their perspectives and value their contributions.
Find out more about our Family Engagement training.
Setting up and embedding an open-door policy takes time, patience and buy-in from everyone across an organisation; it’s not a ‘quick fix’ and cannot happen overnight. And there
Post Rating
You must be logged in to vote.
To view this content, you must have active Team Teach certification. Please register or log in and check your certificate number is added to your profile.
The Team Teach Knowledge Hub content is created in the UK, adhering to UK law and guidance. Practitioners should exercise their professional judgment to determine the appropriateness of any Team Teach material for their specific sector and geographic region, and be aware of the applicable laws and guidelines governing their organisation.