Friday, August 2, 2013
MBWA or MBAQ???
In 1982 Tom Peters and Robert Waterman wrote of "management by walking around" [MBWA] in their book In Search of Excellence. This was how HP founders Bill Hewlett and David Packard ran their company, long before it was a computer company. This was a management style which I used a lot even before reading of it. I tried to get out most days and circulate through the plant to talk to people. I also tried to spend a least a couple minutes in everybody's office. Sometimes it was just a simple "Good morning" but often I would ask a question. One of our staff members, who had read about "management by walking around" told me one day that my style might better be called "management by asking questions" MBAQ was born!
One question I often asked during the first few weeks or months of somebody joining Richway was "are we fulfilling your expectations here at Richway?" As I noted in the post of a while ago ----"Thanks for asking" ------ people appreciate your concern. It must be genuine and you must act on their answer when appropriate.
Of course you find out useful information. Importantly, you build an atmosphere where even without you asking questions, people volunteer or raise issues.
Not all my questions were work related. I asked some about them and their families, their hobbies, and their children because I wanted to know them. Sometimes I even heard about health problems for them or family. You have to be prepared to take time to listen if the answer is long or it starts a dialog.
Whether it is MBWA or MBAQ or whatever term you wish to call it, you are interacting with all your staff members, getting to know them (and letting them get to know you) establishing a dialog and communication and learning about what is going on in your organization. "Priceless" to quote the tagline of a TV commercial.
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Yes! Getting that kind of rapport is an important part of successful organizations. However, MBWA is not always done right or successful. Most successful start-up entrepreneurs are very good at MBWA, it’s huge part of their success as well as their frustration in growing their companies. Your MBAQ approach might be a better way of getting a handle on this.
ReplyDeleteInformal (MBWA) communication works well for the small organization especially in the start-up phase. In this phase, calls from customers typically set the priorities and priorities change as new calls come in. The start-up entrepreneur typically makes the decisions and gets things done. Employees do what the owner wants; their suggestions are not always asked for or wanted. As the business grows (more orders, more staff, more production, more capital needed, etc.) this entrepreneurial MBWA approach tends to create frustration and chaos. There is a need for better communication and defined processes (procedures), tough to do for the start-up entrepreneur.
Your MBAQ just might be a better approach to what’s needed. What I mean is the entrepreneur must learn to let go, help the employee understand what must be done, and not tell the employee how to do it. Even if the owner knows a better way of doing something he / she should let the employee do it their way as long as the job is done right. The employee will learn and grow from the experience. When things are completed, have a "lessons learned" MBAQ follow-up. Ask questions about how it went, what was learned, and what could be done different in the future. Sometimes it is not the employee who learns the most in the follow-up, i.e. the owner’s way may not have been the best way after all. This approach can help employees learn how to manage, grow personally, and with the right questions, help preserve the organizations core competencies and enable growth.
I know this guy and respect his knowledge. He has lots of hands on experience. Thanks for your input "Gramps" aka Joe P.
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