You know you’ve got a lucrative management fad when you’ve got a meaty acronym. Managing by Walking Around (MBWA) is a particularly good one. It has four consonants and only one vowel. That’s authoritative.
And what’s not to like about that concept? You’re seeing the shop floor, you’re being seen on the shop floor and also getting some much-needed cardio.
But it’s what you do when you’re there that dictates whether it’s a useful exercise or potentially damaging.
Walking in Circles by angrytoast
Here’s some useful behaviour you should use when taking your managerial walk:
- Observing what happens in the work. What conversations are taking place? What problems crop up? What takes up time?
- Asking well-constructed questions about what’s happening and why it works that way.
- Encouraging other people to think about how the work works.
And here’s some unhelpful behaviour:
- Advising front line staff on how to do handle the work. You’re there to learn, not teach.
- Assessing staff members based on what you see. You’ll damage their trust and get far less impact than if you focus on the problems in the work.
- Making decisions about how best to change the work based on your single observations. They won’t be representative of what happens every day.
MBWA is a good start, but it’s not enough. You should use it to inspire an initiative where front line staff gather scientific data about what’s happening in the work, not just to show off your legendary social skills.
The Lean Thinker also has some good tips on how to set context and what to look for. Get out of your office, it’s Friday!
Another thing to add to your list of unhelpful behaviors: You can also be seen as a spy, showing up all of a sudden next to someone’s desk. It’s important to pass the message that you’re there to help, and not to spy.
For those interested, here’s a much more comprehensive article on the strengths and the advantages of MBWA.
Thanks Hut – good point.