Two things must be true for someone to take advantage of an open-door policy: self-confidence and psychological safety.
Psychological safety in a team means feeling okay to take risks, express ideas, ask questions, and admit mistakes without fear of negative consequences.
To build a psychologically safe environment, leaders can practice candidness, sharing mistakes, inclusive language, encouraging team input, and teaching team members to grow.
Relentless rescoping and saying "NO" can help in delivering what matters without burning out.
When rescaping work, focus on impact sizing and say "NO" to items that do not provide significant impact.
Teams often struggle to reduce scope due to company incentives, difficulty in distinguishing busy work from impactful work, and a fear of reallocating team members.