Copyright The Oregonian
DEAR MISS MANNERS: I work for a midsized company that has a centralized administrative office, in addition to locations where we do field work. I am part of the administration, and work permanently from my office. The unwritten policy is that we leave our office doors open, although we are allowed to close them for short periods if we are on the phone or need to work uninterrupted. There is a conference room located directly beside my office that is utilized multiple times daily. Before and after these meetings, people will congregate in the hallway in front of my office door to talk. Occasionally someone will even lean on my doorjamb with their backside in my office. The conversations are loud enough to be disruptive, even if I am wearing headphones, and they are also blocking my exit path if I were to leave for any reason. Sometimes these conversations will last in excess of 10 or 15 minutes. I cannot ask the meeting participants to go somewhere else, because they are project managers, department VPs, clients and the HR department with prospective employees. Would it be rude of me to get up and gently close my door while they are standing there conversing? Or is it better to just grin and bear it? Stories by Judith Martin Miss Manners: Early-arriving dinner guests seemed peeved when I left them alone to finish getting ready Miss Manners: Family photos seem to live on our phones these days, rather than hung on walls Miss Manners: Young people accused me of being ‘too nice’ GENTLE READER: To answer your question, it’s worth examining why you cannot just (politely) ask these people to gather farther away. It should not be because they outrank you, but rather because what they are doing is (or is presumed to be) in furtherance of company business. For the same reason, not only can you gently close your door so as to be more productive, but Miss Manners would think less of any boss who thought less of you for doing so.
