The document discusses the management technique of Management by Walking Around (MBWA). It involves managers spending time visiting employee work areas, listening to employees, and informally addressing issues. The goals are to identify problems, encourage communication, and strengthen relationships. It originated in the 1970s when Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard created a style of personal involvement and recognition. While some question its relevance today, proponents argue it remains an effective way to understand operations and motivate staff. Guidelines include visiting often without criticism and focusing on positive interactions.

1. MANAGEMENT BY
WALKING AROUND
“GET MANAGEMENT OUT OF THE OFFICE”

2. I y o u wa it fo r p e o p le to c o m e to y o u, y o u’ ll o nly
f
g e t s m a ll p ro ble m s . Yo u m us t g o a nd find
the m . The big p ro ble m s a re whe re p e o p le
d o n’t re a liz e the y ha ve o ne in the firs t p la c e .
–W. Edwards Deming

3. WHAT IS MBWA?
 Unstructured approach
 Involves direct participation by the managers in the work-related affairs of
their subordinates, in contrast to rigid and distant management.
 In MBWA practice, managers spend a significant amount of their time
making informal visits to work area and listening to the employees.
 The purpose of this exercise is to collect qualitative information, listen to
suggestions and complaints, and keep a finger on the pulse of the
organization.
 Also called management by wandering around.

4. HOW DID IT START?
 In the 1970s, when their company began
growing, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard
created a management style.
 This technique was marked by personal
involvement, good listening skills and the
recognition that everyone in an organization
wants to do a good job

5. Top Things About MBWA
1. In 1978 when Tom Peters first heard of Management by Walking
around, he called it “the technology of the obvious”.
2. Considered to be a leadership technique
3. Japanese managers use a similar strategy called the 3 G’s, which
stand for
Genba actual place
Genbutsu actual thing
Genjitsu actual situation
The 3 G’s originated at Honda.

6. Guidelines For MBWA
 Do it to everyone
 Do it as often as you can
 Go by yourself
 Ask questions
 W atch and listen
 Share your dreams with them

7.  Management by Exception is a "policy by
which management devotes its time to
investigating only those situations in which
actual results differ significantly from planned
results. The idea is that management should
spend its valuable time concentrating on the
more important items (such as shaping the
company's future strategic course). Attention
is given only to material deviations requiring
investigation."

8. Guidelines For MBWA
 Try out their work
 Bring good news
 Have fun
 Catch them in the act of doing something
right
 Don’t be critical

9. Benefits
 Builds trust and relationships.
 Motivates staff by suggesting that management takes an active
interest in people.
 Encourages staff to achieve individual and collective goals.
 Strengthens ability to drive cultural change for higher organizational
performance.
 Refreshes organizational values.
 Makes work less formal.
 Creates a healthy organization.

10. W Some Managers Fail?
hy
 lack purpose, they seem to walk around the business with no
specific goal in mind other than to walk around their business
 don’t have a plan, just stopping by the usual people to say
hello
 are reluctant to be repetitive in their actions and as such are
unwilling to adopt the required leader behaviour
 get put off by early disappointments
 talk to much and don’t listen enough

11. IS MBWA STILL RELEVANT?
 In this era of the “www.” is there still room for
“MBWA?”
 Management by Walking Around is still practiced
today. It is not seen as much in big corporations,
but some small companies practice it. Two big
corporations that do practice it are Hewlett-
Packard and Kingston Technologies.

12. The Return of Management by
W alking Around
 It is the driving force behind the popular TV reality shows
Und e rc o v e r Bo s s , Dirty Jo bs .
 In Und e rc o ve r Bo s s , c o m p a ny e x e c utiv e s wo rk in d is g uis e
a nd und e rc o ve r in the ir o wn firm s to explore how the
company really works, what can be improved, and the
challenges faced by employees.
 The series Dirty Jo bs is jus t tha t. I ho s t p e rfo rm s the
ts
d is g us ting , s m e lly , m e s s y and sometimes dangerous jobs
that people do.

13. MBW is ...Total Success, Big Money and most
A
of all.....Happy Employees.