????親愛的安妮：我的公司最近進行了一輪全方位的業績考評，自從我兩年前升職到管理層，這還是頭一遭。我領導一個約30人的團隊，大家對我的工作都給予積極評價，除了一個缺點：我收到的書面評估指出，除了事先安排的會面，他們很少遇到我，沒機會問一些突如其來的問題或是就當天發生的事情得到反饋。我得承認我大部分時間窩在辦公室里，忙于自己的工作，但他們要是想和我交流，也可以直接來找我。

????總之，老板給我的建議就是“多試試MBWA”。對此我毫無概念，只好求助谷歌，原來是“走動式管理”（management by walking around）。好吧，具體怎么做呢？就是到處走走，隨便聊聊？聽起來純粹是浪費時間，更別提這種不宣而至的拜訪還可能打攪別人的工作。我肯定沒有找到要領，對吧，能否指教一二？——困惑的匹茲堡人

????親愛的困惑者：就像你從網上學到的那樣，走動式管理（MBWA）就是指經常性的到處走動，與人面談，了解大家對公司現狀的看法，傾聽他們的擔憂。這就是惠普公司的創始人比爾?休利特和戴維?帕卡德管理公司（惠普公司的英文名就是兩位創始人姓氏的組合——譯注）的辦法。由于湯姆?彼得斯和羅伯特?沃特曼在他們的暢銷名著《追求卓越》（In Search of Excellence）中的推崇，走動式管理成了細致和個人化管理方式的代名詞。史蒂夫?喬布斯將這一方法發揮到極致，甚至越過員工，直接用到了顧客身上，他會通過電話來回應他們的抱怨和置評。

????不請自來的拜訪確實可能打攪別人，但支持者宣稱這一方法也有實實在在的好處。波士頓高管培訓公司ClearRock的執行合伙人安妮?史蒂文斯就說：“走動式管理的好處很實在：讓人更多地感覺到你的存在，促進你和員工的交流和分享想法，鼓勵大家提出合理化建議?！?/p>

????除了讓你對公司的狀況了如指掌，你的時常出現和頻繁交流也會促進員工的工作熱情和工作效率。史蒂文斯指出，雖然是老生常談，但在很多公司電郵已經取代了以往常見的面談，有的老板會顯得高高在上和難以捉摸，就像《綠野仙蹤》（Oz）里老是躲在幕后的巫師奧茲一樣。

????“現在的趨勢是通過電郵、備忘錄和正式會談來管理員工?！彼f，部分原因是由于很多經理（就像你一樣）覺得自己忙得沒時間和員工非正式地會面，也可能“年輕和新近升職的經理”根本就不知道走動式管理的概念。

????對那些想嘗試走動式管理的老板們（而不是想當甩手掌柜的家伙），史蒂文斯給出正確實施這種管理方式的6點建議：

????1、養成習慣。只有在沒有固定時間表的情況下，不期而至的閑談才最有效率，因為“在大家沒有為會面特意做準備時，你才能看到真實情況，你的走動才能獲得最大回報，”史蒂文斯如是說。但如果可能的話，請在自己每天的日程安排上為走動式管理留出專門時間，就算只有半個小時也好?！敖洺Ｗ?，效果就會更好?！?/p>

????2、單槍匹馬。經常性地與員工進行一對一的談話是走動式管理的最佳形式。帶著助手參加很可能會形成壓抑的氛圍，員工會不自在，甚至感覺你在仗勢欺人。

????3、平等對待。如果你了解辦公室傳言的來龍去脈，你就知道，和某人閑聊次數多一點，就會有人傳閑話了。試著在下屬之間平均分配你的交流時間，這一點即使在一天或者一周之內難以做到，也要在長期的過程中實現。

????4、論功行賞。史蒂文斯說：“對每一個人都要問問他/她對改進產品、流程、銷售、服務有什么想法?！比缓?，如果某人的建議起了效果，一定要公布他的身份，以顯示你會論功行賞。

????5、有始有終。史蒂文斯建議，如果無法當場回答員工的問題，之后要記得回復他/她。除了顯示應有的禮貌，也能增進信任。

????6、避免沖突。記得你的主要目的是了解事實，其次是促進和諧。為了避免損害這些目標，史蒂文斯建議：“如果你發現某個員工的工作狀況不佳，請不要當場解決問題。相反的，先記下來，再找個合適的時間、合適的場合來處理?！?/p>

????顯然，走動式管理會花費額外的時間和精力，但除了在未來可能有看得到的好處，你也許會發現你喜歡上了這種方式。不妨試試看吧。

????反饋：如果你是經理，你試過走動式管理嗎？如果老板喜歡搞突然襲擊，你會覺得受到打攪還是歡迎這種交流方式？敬請留言評論。

????Dear Annie: My company did a round of 360-degree performance evaluations recently — the first time we've done this since I was promoted to management two years ago. The team of about 30 people reporting to me all had positive things to say about my work, with one exception: The written appraisal I received said they feel they don't run into me enough, outside of scheduled meetings, to ask spur-of-the-moment questions or get feedback about things that come up during the day. It's true that I am so swamped with my own work that I am stuck at my desk most of the time, although nothing prevents anybody from stopping by if they want to speak with me.

????Anyway, my boss wrote in my file that I should "do more MBWA." I had no idea what that meant, so I Googled it and found out it means "management by walking around". Okay, but how does it work? Do I just walk around and talk to people? It really sounds like a waste of time, not to mention a possibly unwelcome distraction for the staffers I'd be dropping in on. I must be missing something here, but what? — Puzzled in Pittsburgh

????Dear Puzzled: Management by walking around (or MBWA), as you probably know from your Internet search, is the habit of stopping by to talk with people face to face, get a sense of how they think things are going, and listen to whatever may be on their minds.

????This was how founders Bill Hewlett and David Packard ran their eponymous computer company. After Tom Peters and Robert Waterman wrote about it in their 1982 blockbuster bestseller In Search of Excellence, MBWA became a buzzword for up-close-and-personal management. Steve Jobs was the ultimate practitioner of this approach, taking it beyond Apple (AAPL) employees to customers, whose complaints or comments he often answered with a phone call.

????It may be that popping in on employees unexpectedly is, as you say, a distraction — but enthusiasts say the practice also yields real benefits."Management by walking around really helps you be more visible, connect with employees and share ideas, and invite suggestions for doing things better," says Annie Stevens, managing partner at Boston-based executive coaching firm ClearRock.

????Beyond the obvious advantages of keeping your own finger on the pulse of the organization, employees are likely to be more engaged and productive if they see you and speak with you frequently than if they don't. That might sound commonsensical, Stevens notes, but email has replaced ordinary face-to-face contact in many workplaces, so that some bosses have come to seem as remote and inscrutable as Oz behind his curtain.

????"There has been a tendency to manage employees via email, memos, and formal meetings," she says — partly because many managers feel (as you do) that they just don't have time to meet with employees informally, and partly because "younger and newly promoted managers" may never have learned the basics of MBWA.

????So, for bosses who would like to manage by walking around (rather than, as one wag put it, manage by walking away), Stevens offers this checklist of suggestions for doing it right:

????1. Make MBWA part of your routine. Dropping in on employees' workspaces for an informal chat is most effective if you don't do it on any fixed schedule, since "you'll realize the greatest returns by seeing what is going on when people aren't prepared for you," Stevens says. But do plan for a bit of MBWA on your own calendar every day, if you possibly can, even if it's only for half an hour: "The more often you do it, the more beneficial it is."

????2. Don't bring an entourage. MBWA works best as a continual stream of one-on-one conversations with individual employees. Bringing aides or assistants with you will probably just inhibit the discussion by making people more self-conscious or, worse, make them feel you're ganging up on them.

????3. Visit everybody. As anyone might guess who's familiar with how office rumor mills get spinning, dropping in on some folks more often than others is likely to create the wrong kind of buzz. Try to spend roughly the same amount of time — not necessarily all in the same day or even the same week, but over the long run — with each person who reports to you.

????4. Ask for suggestions, and recognize good ideas. "Ask each employee for his or her thoughts about how to improve products, processes, sales, or service," Stevens says. Then, if someone's idea leads to a positive result, make it known whose suggestion it was and show you're ready to give credit where it's due.

????5. Follow up with answers. If you can't answer an employee's question off the top of your head, don't forget to get back to him or her with an answer later, Stevens suggests. Besides being common courtesy, it builds trust.

????6. Don't criticize. Remember, you're on a fact-finding mission, with the secondary purpose of building rapport. To avoid undermining those aims, Stevens says, "If you find that an employee isn't performing his or her job correctly, don't attempt to change the behavior on the spot. Instead, make a note of it and address the problem at another time and in another setting."

????Clearly, MBWA takes some extra time and effort, but apart from any tangible payoff it might yield down the road, you might even find that you enjoy it. Stranger things have happened.

????Talkback: If you're a manager, have you tried MBWA? If your boss is prone to dropping in on you, do you find it distracting or do you welcome it? Leave a comment below.