Good point Jeff. The path of least resistance is so often a closed office door and a to do list, not proactively walking around and engaging.

I think you are right about comfort zones. Another excuse I consistently hear for avoiding MBWA is manager’s have too many tasks piled on their plate. The average manager seems to sprint from pointless meeting to pointless meeting while desperately trying to keep up on emails, reports, and PowerPoint deck making in between, most of which is in preparation for the next meeting. I’ve observed that people under stress revert to their instincts, so if they aren’t comfortable with MBWA, they really won’t be comfortable doing it if they feel they are too busy.

It’s great you mention Pres. Lincoln Jeff; he even made the Wikipedia entry on MBWA, which, despite being a bit of a history buff, surprised me.

Thanks for sharing an example from the real world of how MBWA can make a difference. To me, it seems to be a tremendously underused technique; in a lot of cases, I think that is because it requires manager/trainers/owners to get out of their comfort zone.

You asked for examples – I used this technique a lot when I was the Director of Training for a parking management firm. The payoff was huge. I knew our operations’ strengths, challenges, and opportunities inside and out. I was also able to build trust with our managers so they would turn to me for help, which in turn made my department much more relevant and useful.

Let me know if you catch yourself loafing! 🙂 And agree 100% Jayme, it really is a great practice to develop.

Seriously though; what a great practice for managers. Kinda like secret shopping.

That’s an interesting point Michelle. You know, everyone is different, but in my experience, most employees who are earnestly focused on doing a good job welcome the interaction. Not micro-management, but occasional and constructive engagement.

As for your management dilemma… ouch, that’s a hard one! One of my favorite quotes is from comedian Bill Cosby: “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.” Think that sums up the challenge you described! 🙂

Interestingly, I hated managing employees. I wanted too much control and had super-high standards, while wanting everyone to be happy. That personality mix was a mess for a management role! Can you imagine? That just doesn’t work.

I think it depends on the situation — but point taken, when not connecting with people on a walk, the the idea is to observe operations not impede them.