Managing By Walking Around (MBWA): An Essential Guide

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

A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world.

—John le Carré

Though we live in a time when communication has become easier and faster, face-to-face human communication is suffering a big downward trend. In this age of endless meetings, tight schedules, emails, conference calls and lengthy to-do lists, it has become easier for managers to forget what their work is about.? A manager’s job is about people. Without your people, you don’t have a job. Pressure for results and the drive to achieve targets can be tight so as managers we rush from one activity to the next. This leaves little or no time for informal meetings, and this is?bad for business.

In your management journey, you have probably read about and learnt different management theories and styles, but essentially, a key part of effective people management is about being in touch with the people, in the trenches, at the shop floor. In order to succeed as a manager, you have to get down to the people, to know what is happening. This is where Managing By Walking Around (MBWA) comes in.

MBWA - The Definition

Management by Walking Around, MBWA, is a concept that was popularized by management guru and best-selling author Tom Peters and his co-author Robert H. Waterman, in their book In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best Run Companies. According to Peters and Waterman, successful organizations were those who had managers that spent much of their time in the field rather than being confined to their offices, behind their desks. Managers who practice MBWA, according to Peters and Waterman, are more informed and aware of on-goings and are better able to fix problems before they escalate.

MBWA is essentially a management style in which the manager walks around the workshop or office in unstructured and unscheduled manner, spending time listening to problems and ideas of their staff.

Managing by walking around requires personal involvement, good listening skills, and the recognition that most people in an organization want to contribute to its success.

There are three components behind a successful MBWA. According to Peters, the method works when:

Managers listen to people?– A manager, shouldn’t just walk around and talk, they should also to listen?to what workers are saying verbally and nonverbally. To succeed at MBWA, you have to?become good at reading the subtle signs.

Managers use discussion as an opportunity to teach company’s values?– The walks should be used as opportunity to strengthen understanding of the?company’s values and vision.

Managers are willing to provide on-the-spot assistance– If subordinates require help, you must be willing to lead by example and provide on-the-spot assistance. MBWA has a sense of urgency to it. It isn’t about “I will look into it”, but about getting problems fixed quickly.

MBWA creates an environment of feedback, in which workers can provide the manager with ideas, opinions and suggestions. It removes the ‘management bubble’ so that managers don’t just see what they want to see or what subordinates want them to see, but they get a true picture of what is going on.

MBWA - The Benefits

There are three core benefits to using MBWA as a management style. It creates improvements in communication and worker-manager relationships, effective operational focus, and enhanced efficiency.

1. Creating stronger communication channels and improving manager-subordinate relationships

• The strategy forces management to improve how it communicates with the subordinates. It emphasizes the importance of good communication throughout the organization. The managers learn to listen effectively and talk efficiently to their subordinates.
• It enhances communication and creates an atmosphere of openness. Management-worker discussions are based on positive exchange of ideas. Open communication becomes a culture of the organization.

2. Focus on the correct operational aspects of work

• By practicing MBWA, the manager gets first-hand experience of happenings at the shop-floor. This allows them to have a better knowledge of activities/problems, which will provide better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the organization.
• This creates an environment of feedback, in which subordinates can provide the manager with ideas and suggestions for improvement.

3. Improved organizational efficiency

• MBWA enhances operational efficiency. The positive work atmosphere created increases workers’ motivation, which in turn boost their productivity.
• Management will be able to fix problems quicker by meeting workers directly, rather than relying on a string of memos and e-mails.
• Feedback on challenges faced is instant, resulting in faster actions. The subordinate or the manager doesn’t have to wait for the ‘right’ moment, but can take decisions as soon as issues arise.

MBWA, if properly implemented, sends a positive message to workers. It demonstrates your interest in them as individuals and in their contribution to the organization. It also allows you to stay in touch with the pulse of your organization while conveying a positive example of?leadership.