“If you have a question or a concern, stop by…my door is always open.” That feels so welcoming. Safe even. We have learned that the open door is a cue silently communicating a willingness to listen, help, and connect. It signals “I am not too busy right now”. It signals the existence of an organizational culture that values interdependence and support.

But what happens when there are no doors? When the virtual workplace is filled with individuals, each situated in a home office, bedroom or dining room table, each communicating over Slack channels or ZOOM meetings, the symbolism of an open door no longer applies. As a result, employees are left to find other cues to help them determine if a manager is available or even willing to engage. This is especially true for newer employees who don’t have the luxury of understanding the background and personality of their manager and haven’t yet decoded the communication norms of their virtual team.

“She just seems so busy”

As part of our qualitative study on the remote workplace, we have been asking online workers questions about psychological safety. One of the clearest findings so far has been participants’ responses to the question “what stops you from asking for help?”. Over and over again, we hear things like “she just seems so busy” or “I didn’t want to bother him” or “he has so much going on, I didn’t want to be a burden”. When asked about how they came to that conclusion, it rarely involved a direct statement or messaging alert that their manager was busy. Rather, employees seek out virtual nonverbal cues to help them decide how safe or how disruptive it would be to ask for help.

Cues used to estimate psychological safety have to do with things like response speed and nonverbal engagement. For instance, when a small request for help goes unanswered, employees will feel much less comfortable asking for help on the big issues. When a manager rarely engages in things like Slack or messaging, or if text-based messages are short with little relational content, those managers will seem less accessible and less safe. Similarly, when a manager consistently cancels one-on-one check-ins, or cuts them short with no apology, or comes across distracted during video calls, the message is clearly communicated that they don’t have time for their employees.

Back in the old days, it was simple to communicate openness; just leave your door open. In a remote environment, it is much more complicated. In the absence of clear messaging, employees will use whatever cues they can find to determine how safe it is to ask for help or voice concerns. Successfully managing in an online environment requires clear and frequent communication. It takes initiative on the part of the manager to connect, ask questions, and provide a safe space for discussion. It also requires paying attention to nonverbal cues. Psychological safety will not happen on its own. We need to find new ways to actively communicate our door is always open.