Walking the Beat

E-mail is a great way to communicate, but face to face communication for the smallest of things is another vital step to your success as a manager. You remember the feeling in the pit of your stomach when you got called in to the principles office? No, me either. All kidding aside, no one likes that feeling, not even me. I once worked for a manger that never held a meeting in his office. When he had a question he got up from his desk and walked to the employee and asked the question. He brought himself out of his environment and into the environment where the staff worked. Simple, yet effective concept. Make your face a welcome face. Don’t just show up when you need something. Walk the beat and make it count.

Walking your beat is a tip that is noteworthy for any manager. You know the old police days when a cop was assigned a block to walk. Their “beat” was the one way they could keep an eye on the environment. They got to know each store owner by name, they new who drove which car and they knew how many kids where in the block. In an instant they knew when something was out of place or not right. They could react, they could count on the people of the block to react as well. Do you know the temperature of the water in the tank where your team swims? Walking the beat in your office can be a real treat. It can be lot’s of fun and worthy of your time.

Until your brain triggers this reaction automatically, you may need to set your computer calendar to remind you. Walk the beat every two hours and see how things are going. Offer a lending hand. What will most employees say when you ask if they need anything…. “No, thanks.”. But, you asked. You brought your self out down from the “ivory tower” and walked into the fields to see what is going on and put your toe in the water. Important to this step of communication is not announcing your intentions. Let this be your little secret. No need to put out a memo about your plans to visit every two hours. That is what I call “absurd communication”. It is a sort of like announcing when you are going to fart. Sure it is appreciated, but not always advised. After all, you never know the final result.

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Ryan Dohrn works as a General Manager of HorseCity.com for Morris Communications Company, LLC in Augusta, GA. Ryan Dohrn gives insights on how you, as a manager, can inspire greatness, fix problems, meet goals and increase the overall productivity of your team without being a jerk. The content of this blog is the private work of Ryan R. Dohrn and not that of Morris Communications Company, LLC. All rights reserved, copyright 2005- Ryan R. Dohrn. Please share this blog with others. But, permission to reproduce all or parts of this blog for profit must be granted in writing by the author. ryan@synergystables.com or ryan.dohrn@morris.com or ryandohrn@aol.com An Atom formatted XML site feed of Ryan's blog can be found at: http://ryandohrn.blogspot.com/atom.xml