It ain’t Rocket Science
MBWA It is not Rocket Science. Whatever you want to call it: MBWA (Managing by Walking Around), (Managing by Wandering Around), CBWA (Coaching by Walking Around). These are all just buzz words for a great Leadership practice for engaging with your employees. Personally I have always disliked referring to my employees as “Employees”. I prefer “people”. Another pet peeve I have is to use the terms Manager and Leader interchangeably. There are people in Leadership roles that are good Mangers. They are fully capable of managing processes, balancing the books, tracking projects on Gantt chart, but are not capable of truly leading a group of people to accomplish an objective or achieve a goal. However, the difference between Managers and Leaders is a subject for another time. The …show more content…
Also, if one your people asks you a question that you can’t answer off the cuff, you should make note of it and follow up with them with the answer in person. Failure to follow up is a moral buster and the person will feel that you don’t care. A good tip is to carry 3x5 cards with you and jot down those good ideas and the questions that your people have. This serves two purposes: 1. you have the note for follow up. 2. When you take the time to write something down right in front of the person that provides the idea or asked the question, it has the effect of making that person feel that what they had to say was important. You are building rapport.
Engaging your people by MBWA is a commitment. It takes time and effort, but the payoff will be great for you, your people and your organization.
"If you wait for people to come to you, you’ll only get small problems. You must go and find them. The big problems are where people don't realize they have one in the first place." (W. Edwards Deming in Serrat,
MBWA It is not Rocket Science. Whatever you want to call it: MBWA (Managing by Walking Around), (Managing by Wandering Around), CBWA (Coaching by Walking Around). These are all just buzz words for a great Leadership practice for engaging with your employees. Personally I have always disliked referring to my employees as “Employees”. I prefer “people”. Another pet peeve I have is to use the terms Manager and Leader interchangeably. There are people in Leadership roles that are good Mangers. They are fully capable of managing processes, balancing the books, tracking projects on Gantt chart, but are not capable of truly leading a group of people to accomplish an objective or achieve a goal. However, the difference between Managers and Leaders is a subject for another time. The …show more content…
Also, if one your people asks you a question that you can’t answer off the cuff, you should make note of it and follow up with them with the answer in person. Failure to follow up is a moral buster and the person will feel that you don’t care. A good tip is to carry 3x5 cards with you and jot down those good ideas and the questions that your people have. This serves two purposes: 1. you have the note for follow up. 2. When you take the time to write something down right in front of the person that provides the idea or asked the question, it has the effect of making that person feel that what they had to say was important. You are building rapport.
Engaging your people by MBWA is a commitment. It takes time and effort, but the payoff will be great for you, your people and your organization.
"If you wait for people to come to you, you’ll only get small problems. You must go and find them. The big problems are where people don't realize they have one in the first place." (W. Edwards Deming in Serrat,