Office Relations and the Open Door Policy

I had been working in an office for some time now and noticed that something was not right. Yes we had been getting jobs and we were getting paid but I still could not put my finger on what the problem was. Suddenly in comes Paul and then I noticed that everyone in the office either had a scowl on their faces or whispered one comment or the other.

Then it hit me…It was Paul! Paul seemed like he had no regard for the people in the office and acted like he was doing them a favour just by saying “Good morning”. His attitude to the staff made it unimaginable for them to want to be nice to him or even greet him in the morning.

It’s so important to have a successful working relationship with your customers and especially your staff because they determine the success or failure of your Organization to an extent. I’ve heard some people say that it’s better to be respected than liked; I say why not go for both. Your relationship with your staff will determine how they will relate with you and the results you will get from them for projects or assignments given to them.

Let’s look at an example:

In comes Paul and he grunts a “harrumph” that’s supposed to be a good morning, bounces into his office and slams the door shut. Then in comes Philip who from the minute he opens the door everyone says good morning to him and he responds with a “how do u do” and “did u sleep well’. 

Here’s the thing… Philip may not care about how their nights were but he asked and showed some sort of interest….BINGO! That’s what’s going to make his staff like him and respect him. The difference between Paul and Philip is their relationship with their staff. Philip makes them want to come to work and Paul…they just want to throw him out the window. You can’t please everyone but you CAN please some people just by doing the little things that matter.

Another way to establish a great working relationship with your staff is to have an open door policy that is not abused. An open door policy rule is one that allows staff of an Organization access to the CEO without any trouble to discuss contracts and issues affecting the Organization in order for growth to take place.

An open door policy is abused when the employees take advantage of the policy and instead use it as a means to gossip or make other people look bad. The minute the open door policy is used for negativity within the Organization it has been abused and needs to be addressed and solved as soon as possible.

The employer has to let the employees know the reason for the open door policy and why it is being implemented in the Organization so the staff don’t take advantage of it and use it for personal interests.

So there you have it. The key to a successful business relationship in and outside the office is great customer relations, great employer-employee relations and of course getting the job done.

Good luck!!!

Zainab Akpan is the Head of Client Operations at Starfish Consulting. Starfish Consulting is a Business Consulting firm with the sole purpose of turning businesses around making them more effective and the staff more efficient. Contact us now on 070-2559-8448 or send an email to zainabakpan@gmail.com

The Mystery That Is Communication

Over the years I have found out that when the word “mystery” is mentioned to people the first thing that pops into their mind is the spiritual unsolved mysteries or the weird death of a person or even a stripped pink cat could be a mystery and no one knows if the paint just spilled on the cat. Mysteries to some people are unexplainable phenomena that just surpasses their understanding. However I have found out that one mystery that people don’t seem to notice is the Communication Mystery.

I’m not talking about communicating with the dead or trying to use Jedi mind tricks on people or things to get your message across. I’m not talking about seeing dead people or hearing things that go bump in the night. I’m speaking on the unknown mysteries that entrepreneurs fail to see or understand in communication.

There was a man who came up to me and said “ I’d like to start my own business”. Now that’s news I love to hear so I figured I would help this man and listen to what he had to say. Upon further discussion I found out that this man wanted to start his own strip club…yes a strip club. Now imagine this: what if I said to him…”No no no this will not do. It is wrong, immoral…” and I start to outline all the cons of having a strip club in Nigeria. He would have walked out on me and never come back. Now I could feel good about it but I lost a client who could have more potential.

Now the real story…I sat with this man and said to him “I do understand the reason you want this and the success you feel you might have; however judging from the market and the kind of Country we live in I feel there’s more you can do.” We sat down together and the ideas this man had were incredible. Our communication was successful, we understood each other, flowed on the same pattern and created a new vision for him.

Communication is effective when all the parties involved understand each other and the message is received and accepted. It becomes a mystery when there is no flow of communication. The mystery is some people feel that communication in business does not amount to much however the truth is it determines whether your business is going to be an astounding success or a colossal failure. Communication keeps businesses alive and feeds them with success mints every time its successful.

What are the keys to effective and successful communication, how do you know when its been successful and more importantly how do you remain in the truth of effective communication? Its simple! Listen to the client carefully and try not to interrupt when he/she speaks. Take notes where necessary so you are effective and can capture all your clients requests and the best part- follow-up follow up and…follow up. Its necessary its important and the benefits…OUTSTANDING RESULTS AND REFERRALS FOR YOUR COMPANY.

Zainab Akpan is the Head of Client Operations at Starfish Consulting. Starfish Consulting is a Business Consulting firm with the sole purpose of turning businesses around making them more effective and the staff more efficient. Contact us now on 070-2559-8448 or send an email to zainabakpan@gmail.com