How to handle drop-in visitors - and save time
As a manager, you might adopt an open-door policy - a noble objective. Total accessibility, however, can be counterproductive and waste your valuable time. Unless you are prepared to control the extent to which unexpected visitors take up your time, your efficiency as a manager will suffer. Limiting the time taken up by drop-in visitors demands courtesy, good judgement, and tact. Here's some advice to help you minimise the debilitating effects of those often trivial and time-consuming drop-in visits...
1. Have your assistant intercept all visitors.
Your personal assistant, if you have one, should discreetly screen all visitors. Most routine problems can be handled in this way. If not, three strategies are possible:
- Determine the purpose of the visit and make an appointment.
- The assistant might say 'The manager is busy now. Can I contact you when the manager's free?'
- Or the assistant might say 'The manager is busy at the moment. Is the matter serious enough for me to interrupt?'
2. Appraise your office furniture.
Eye contact often invites passers-by to enter your office. Preferably position your desk so that it is not visible from the door. Or turn your desk so that your back is to the door: most corridor socialites will not interrupt you if they see you are busy.
As well, your office should not be too cosy - straight-backed chairs, a bit hard, not plush. Remove excess seating. In fact, chairs are for scheduled guests. Think twice about offering a chair to a drop-in visitor.
3. Set a time limit for each visit.
Be forthright with drop-ins. In response to 'Got a minute?', say 'I'm busy right now. Can you come back at 11.15?' Or, tell the visitor, 'I can spare only five minutes now. Is that enough?' If not, make an appointment for later. Or, can the matter wait until tomorrow's staff meeting?
