Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Making the Rounds

Wally Bock discusses a crucial task for bosses:

Check in with your team members at least once a day. Ask about concerns or problems. Coach and encourage. Listen for issues. Help them.

2 comments:

John said...

Only after I retired did I appreciate how good was my management training in the cafeteria business. Way back when the volume was great, nearly everything was made from scratch and the majority of employees were paid at or near the minimum wage.

Part of the written job description for every member of the management team was to speak to every person on the property when you first get to work, even if all you do is say "Good morning" or "Hi." With thirty or forty people on duty and hundreds of customers coming, going and eating, it sometimes took half an hour before you could get to anything else.

But the man who founded the company was a very smart "people person" and he knew that investment of management time might be the only chance some of those employees ever had a face-to-face encounter with a boss.

I always felt that any operation that got a union probably worked hard to get one. And neglecting small stuff like speaking politely to subordinates was the first step in that direction.

Michael Wade said...

John,

I like that "speak to every person every morning" ground rule. That is very savvy.

Thanks!

Michael