In Australia they have a term, “walkabout,” which at present means to take a short, occasional interruption from regular work. The term originated with the Aborigines and was the word applied to a rite of passage in which adolescent males went into the wilderness for as long as six months. On this spiritual journey-of-discovery, the young men would trace their ancestors’ pathways of life, called songlines. The young teens would reenact many of the heroic deeds attributed to these precursors. Continued to this day, the walkabout is misunderstood by the white employers who saw it as an “aboriginal thing” in which suddenly without notice, a young man would disappear, reappearing just as suddenly weeks later. To the Aboriginal youth, it was an important spiritual matter for which his employer, from his lack of understanding, would not grant a leave of absence, so they just left when the need came upon them.

In the 1940s, David Packard of Hewlett-Packard fame, coined the phrase, “Management By Walking Around,” MBWA, to describe his practice of breaking from his office routine and going out “into the trenches” to listen to his employees, getting to know them and what they were thinking. This practice was thought to deliver far better returns than any amount of management from afar. Four decades later, business guru, Tom Peters, revived the practice of involved management by MBWA to resolve the problems created by the common management practice of “management by walking away.”

Manager involvement with the frontline employees is great for both sides. Managers relate to the employees actually doing the work and understand their problems and concerns. Employees see their managers as involved and concerned. Good ideas are uncovered and exchanged. The results are better attitudes and productivity.

When Ann Mulcahy became CEO of Xerox, she followed the advice of Warren Buffett and spent a lot of time meeting with customers and employees to learn better what the problems and strengths of her company were. She was successful in turning Xerox around.

Taking a “walkabout” from their offices might be a very good idea for present day business managers. If you know your employees and they know you, what better a means to establish good communications and cooperation between management and the workers?