Walk the Floor

Domain: Building Trust - Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

There are some management practices that are both easy and effective. Walking the floor to greet your team in the morning is among them.

This is sometimes referred to as Management By Walking Around (MBWA). I'm personally not crazy about that phrase as it suggests an emphasis on work inspection. While work is likely to come-up, walking the floor is all about being present and available to your team. I view it as a strategy for building relationships with your team first and foremost.

Here are a few tips on how to approach it…

Do it daily

I recommend walking the floor first thing every morning, assuming most of your team is in. When you first start this practice, your team is going to be skeptical of your motives. Making this a daily practice combined with the other suggestions here will help to assure them that your heart is in the right place.

Keep it personal

Avoid being the one to bring up work. If you use this routine to bring up work issues, it will be seen as a self-serving exercise.

Inevitably, members from your team will bring up work from time to time. That's great, but let them be the ones to prompt it. This shows that you are there to support them and not the other way around.

Mix it up

Don't make this a robotic speed run. There's no point to this exercise if it's going to come-off as a check-the-box activity. Instead, make stops at different desks each day. Just 30 extra seconds to ask about vacations, birthday parties, little league games, etc.

A remote note

What if you have employees that work remotely?

This is tricky, as there is not a great replacement activity for walking the floor. Instant messaging carries a very different tone and even just messaging individuals with a good morning can easily be interpreted as an annoyance or unnecessary intrusion.

Strategies for engaging remote employees is a topic for another time, but saying good morning in an established group-chat (not one-on-one) is the closest substitute I've found.

Thank you for reading. My hope is always that you've found something helpful and easy to implement. If you have feedback, suggestions or questions, please reply to this email.

If you are interested in exploring one-on-one coaching to transform your leadership, email me at [email protected] and we’ll coordinate a free, one-hour discovery session.

This week’s action items:

1. Get in the routine of walking the floor every morning.

2. Keep your greetings personal unless your team brings up work.

3. Practice stopping to spend a few extra moments at different workstations each day.

4. Decide whether a friendly group-chat greeting is right for your remote employees.