matthewvb

Many managers/executives promote their open door policies. Some of them truly mean it — you can really walk in at any time; however, there are always those who don’t truly mean that their door is always open.

Merlin Man had a great post on a conversation he had with Sally.

To pull from the article:

Today I learned about a guy who’s one of the most respected and admired people in his company; and everybody in the company knows that his door is closed (really closed — no interruptions, no exceptions) all morning every morning. That? That is when he works. Then after lunch, through the end of the day, his door never closes — yes, come in and “interrupt” all you want. That’s the whole idea. And it works great.

I just loved this idea. It’s a great way to “manage expectations,” as Merlin puts it.  It is clear that this executive needs private time to accomplish a set of tasks daily, but he also values the philosophy of the open door policy. His hybrid approach is something I think many should consider adopting. True implementation of the open door policy often requires a strong balance of productivity versus working with those who invoke the policy.

My hat is tipped to the man Merlin references.  I feel his approach offers a great allowance and balance of productivity, visibility, and approachability in an organization.

I recently have been thinking a lot about the business I’m forming and doing the market research for. We (my business partner and I) have had many discussions on our business philosophy — and most importantly are employee relations. We think one of the key factors to a successful business is building a core foundation of positive relations with employees at all levels. One of the ways we want to help illustrate that all employees should be treated equally is through parking privileges.

This morning on the metro I really got to think, “What does it say about a CEO when it comes to having a reserved parking space?” I think instantly of hierarchy — that this person must boost some real importance if they need a space solely dedicated to them. That aside, what, in a company of 1000, do the other 999 employees think? That’s where the real key issue comes in.

Some employees will argue that the CEO earned their way to the top and deserves that space right next to the door; while others will argue that it shows the clear division of power within the company and that they feel a level of disconnect from their management. I surely hope to never create that level within my company, nor my business partner. While forming the parking plans for a business tends not to be a priority in a business plan, consider this: What does a parking plan say about how a business is run?

The reserved spaces plan says that to get close to the door, you need to be high up in the organization. Sure, this may motivate some, but chances are it will discourage most as they see the CEO pull up with their 10 second walk to the door and you take your five minute walk from the back of the lot. Throw in some threats about towing cars parked in the CEO’s spot and you have yourself some real motivated employees [note sarcasm]. Perhaps senior leadership and department leads of parking spaces; then a close parking spot may be closer to your reach.

The free-for-all game is only won by those who show up early. In at 6am? Great! Front row for you. Scheduled to work at 11am? Plan for that extra walk in through the full lot; oh, and they’ll all leave a few hours after you start…so enjoy leaving at 7pm in an empty parking lot while you mutter to yourself why you couldn’t have gotten a closer spot if everyone was leaving.

The solution? Great question. Some will tell you the happy medium: rotate spaces, give out special “employee of the month” spaces to those deserving, or some happy blend of the two. I can’t give you the solution to the parking problem (sorry — I’m sure you read this whole column thinking you’d get it), but I can tell you that the method you choose will have an affect on your employees and the organization whether you think it will or not. It’s the small things in an organization like this that grind at the morale of employees. Parking is something employees encounter every day — it’s the first thing impression in the morning and the last membrance of work when the leave. If you start their day on a bad note or end it on a sour one, it will wear on them after time.

Be smart about all things at your organization, and don’t overlook the small things like parking.

I know i’m a bit behind on blogging, but I’ve been catching up on some reading and ran across: Integrating Social Media into a Web Content Strategy at Digital Web Magazine, and there was a great quote by Britt Parrott that is often forgotten in any organization:

Trust is a major factor in social media. If no one in the organization is currently trusted to speak freely on the phone, at meetings, or at conferences, then they won’t be trusted to use social media.

And that extends well beyond social media to the entire flow of the organization — if there’s no trust, nothing will be shared.

5. Not only am I happy to announce a 3G iPhone, but everyone who bought the first generation will get a free upgrade.

4. Apple TV is a great device for watching amazing shows and starting right now you can stream live Apple events through your wireless network. This is the only way to watch Apple events live as they happen.

3. Last year I made a call to Starbucks live on stage when announcing the new iPhone. Today I’m happy to advance that call to the future with iCoffee: a service that not only delivers your coffee to you but has a cool Apple logo on the cup.

2. This past weekend I asked a group of developers to clone Twitter and we’re happy to launch right now: iTweet — A service that will never see downtime.

1. We’ve been hired by Microsoft to redesign their OS.

Two big announcements came yesterday out of Startup Weekend:

1. Andrew Hyde (founder) has announced that Startup Weekend is hiring a CEO. This is the first organization based around creating products in a short span of time (54 hours for SW attendees) to hire a CEO.
2. Startup Weekend 2.0 begins this weekend in Boulder for their second SW. Big changes include the following:

• Multiple Projects
  • As a group we are no longer working on just one company.  If a group of seven, one or 45 for that matter wants to tackle a project or start a company, fantastic.   The community will take charge here, but nothing will be decided until Friday night.  All equity decisions will be made at the event.
• Build on a Project
  • An existing company can recruit a few some brilliant tech minds to spend two hours with working to make their project stronger.
• No Company Required
  • Every project will be different, but there will be no requirement to incorporate a company

The second point comes as a big move as this has been a hotly contended issue in SW past. Other weekends have already taken steps to decrease team size and put more power in the hands of the attendees as to “What happens Next?” Whether the weekend is a success or not, each product launched has the choice to do as they wish.

This is a shift in mentality from a group coming together around a common product and working as a team to being more of a code fest. People are now able to get together, put together what they want, and do with it what they want.

It’ll be interesting to see how shares are distributed and ownership happens with these changes. If one project doesn’t want to go to the group — how will it impact the ownership of that product? According to the site, power still resides with the group, but this weekend will prove whether that’s really the case or not.

Good luck to Boulder! Looking forward to seeing which app(s?) come out of the weekend.

Blitzweekend is well underway up in Montreal. News has been a little slow coming out of the weekend as far as progress, but Mehdi (from Blitzweekend) has filled me in that they have about 50 people attending with 12-13 teams competing to be the best app of the weekend.

I’m looking forward to hearing what apps come out of the weekend and which earns the prize of being dubbed top app.

You can follow their progress at Montreal Tech Watch.