MBWA Meaning: Tips for Management by Walking Around

MBWA is an abbreviation for “management by walking around” or “management by wandering around.” Adherents of this strategy encourage managers to get up and sporadically converse with their team members to hear feedback, check on performance, and offer praise.

Management consultants Tom Peters and Robert H. Waterman crystallized this approach in their book, In Search of Excellence: Lessons From America’s Best-Run Companies. Successful company CEOs like Steve Jobs and David Packard were also quite fond of the strategy. A variant of MBWA, the “gemba walk,” is also popular, particularly at some Japanese companies.

MBWA, or management by walking around, helps managers get to know their frontline staff better and potentially improve morale. By checking in on various teams, managers gain meaningful insights into the day-to-day operations of their company. They can then implement changes that team members suggest to improve working conditions for everybody. This can lead to greater productivity and profitability for everyone.

The effectiveness of MBWA might vary from one company to the next. It depends on whether the manager and other stakeholders feel comfortable with these sporadic, unpredictable meetings. A nonconfrontational and relaxed leadership style will likely pair better with MBWA than an overly critical or authoritarian one.

Management by walking around (MBWA) requires keen observation and communication skills. Managers will do well to keep these seven tips in mind when plotting out their own MBWA strategies:

1. 1. Be inquisitive. MBWA is a team management practice, so let your team know you’re genuinely curious about what they’re doing. As you walk about, ask earnest questions about how each team member’s work is going, improvements they’d like to see, and areas of concern. Get to know each of them on a personal level, too—nothing too intimate but enough to show you care about their well-being and appreciate them.
2. 2. Implement relevant changes. After you gather feedback from your staff, take what you’ve learned and start problem-solving. Team members will likely respond much more positively to an MBWA management style if they see their interactions with you lead to real changes. This demonstrates you value everyone’s input, as well as how their conversing with you can lead to meaningful and helpful tweaks to company processes.
3. 3. Practice active listening. Better communication hinges on listening as much if not more than you speak. Let your employees share ideas about how to improve their work environment and productivity levels. Make suggestions of your own if they are relevant to the specific conversation. Take notes of everything you hear out on the floor.
4. 4. Praise employees when it’s appropriate. Incorporate positive feedback of your own into your broader MBWA strategy. If you see specific stakeholders and team members working diligently and efficiently, let them know how much you appreciate it when you take a walk around your company’s office. In an increasingly virtual work environment, you could also always email or message employees privately to tell them to keep up the good work.
5. 5. Put people at ease. To reap the full benefits of MBWA, make sure your team is happy to see you when you come around. Otherwise, one potential pitfall of this strategy is people feeling like you’re trying to catch them slacking on the job or penalize them in some way. Use positive reinforcement, open body language, and a relaxed tone of voice to reassure your employees you only have their best interests in mind.
6. 6. Reach out to all departments. Visit all department work areas on a regular basis rather than focusing on one in particular. Singling out specific departments can make the rest of your team feel neglected. Whether through virtual video conferencing or face-to-face meetings, show every stakeholder you care about them just as much as any of their other coworkers.
7. 7. Walk around in moderation. Too little employee engagement can cause issues, and so can too much. If you spend a lot of time visiting people’s workspaces constantly, they might soon become overwhelmed by your MBWA strategy. Practice a more moderate and relaxed style of management. For example, visiting a department once a week is far less stressful for team members than doing so once or twice a day.

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