Come here! Slam this door — hard! You Don’t Need to Know Every Work Secret
You don’t need to know every discussion your boss has behind closed doors.
It’s the Christmas season, and of course, I watch Christmas movies — but I watch ones that have a little bit of a slant to them. One of my favorite movies is the 1988 film “Scrooged” with Bill Murray.
In one scene — Murray’s character, the media mogul wannabe Frank Cross, is approached by a lackey for the big boss upstairs. After their animated meeting, Frank decides that he needs to find out every detail he can about this new intruder in his life.
Frank runs across the building to his office and says to a secretary outside, “Come here! Slam this door — hard!”
As a result, all the employees look up and at the door, wondering what incited such fury, and the rumor mill would probably start churning.
This scene brings back memories of our small open plan video game studio where we only had a few doors that managers could slam to have a private discussion. But the minute that door closed, the staff would take note.
During development, we had one-on-one “temperature check” meetings, and one of the frequent topics was that people wanted to know what the discussions were that occurred behind closed doors. When this thought was brought up, the team member would maintain that they could “handle the truth,” and since we were a small studio, they wanted to be in on these closed-door meetings.
I understand the need to be transparent with the staff, but there are times when everyone can’t be “in the loop.” As a manager, you think you are doing your team a courtesy — some topics are too risky and can affect morale throughout the studio. From the employee’s perspective — the management is there to make the tough decisions and help the studio survive the crisis. Leadership is putting a lot of responsibility on their shoulders — their decisions affect the team and their families.
What are some reasons why, as an employee, you can’t know every discussion that your boss has in private? It’s not all cloak and daggers — there rarely is a conspiracy against the team or an individual. Here are some reasons why the door needs to remain closed and private.
Employee Issues
Most of the time, when a closed-door meeting was called, it was to address a concern with a studio member. It could be a performance issue, a family issue (death in the family or something affecting the employee’s family), or possibly something internal or external to the studio that affected the staff morale. In rare instances, it was about terminating a staff member or a staff member moving on — I only remember one or two cases throughout my career when the door was closed for this case.
Performance issues were the most common reason for closed-door meetings. It was about helping the employee get back on track or gathering more information about why the employee was struggling. So while the door was closed and we were helping the team member — the team may inadvertently get the wrong signal or presume something terrible was happening. Unfortunately, they need to be kept private with all personnel issues and not explained to the rest of the studio.
When dealing with a staff member leaving (either voluntarily or involuntarily), these discussions need to be discrete. In an adverse situation, the debate needs to be documented and any decisions committed to a file. Nobody enjoys these types of meetings, and it needs to be confidential!
Discussions That May Affect Employee Morale
These could be a wide array of topics — maybe the publisher wasn’t happy with the milestone, perhaps they didn’t submit payment on time, or a game review could have been overly harsh. Team dynamics are very inconsistent, and an issue that management sees is a minor or short term can have far-reaching impacts on the staff. So if you are a boss and get some terrible news that you don’t know how the team will react — then closing that door is warranted (slamming it may be a bit dramatic).
The Bigwigs
Calls or visits with publishers and investors always should be behind closed doors since discussions can be frank over the state of the game, marketing, funding, or other matters that may be sensitive. A casual walk by an open office door by an unsuspecting staff member may incite the rumor mill among the rank and file — and invite unnecessary turmoil. Even calls or pop-in visits with your PR agency or marketing team should be confidential until it’s the right time to discuss with the staff. Until those big marketing plans are fleshed out — those meetings should be secret.
It’s Just Common Sense
A lot of these items may have you scratching your head and saying, “These are kind of obvious.”
Remember these points when you are a team member and look inside a manager’s closed-door meeting — it shouldn’t be seen as a negative sign. Management is proactive and trying to control the flow of information, so the facts are not hitting the staff like a fire hose.
As for management, always remember that when an employee sees the office door shut, many thoughts could be racing through their mind. It’s the management’s job to alleviate any fears and keep the staff confident in their leadership team.
Now, I gotta get back to watching those Christmas movies!
