Ethical Managing, Day by Day

Part of being an ethical role model is to ensure that employees have the information they need to be effective. Since that information is constantly changing, there must be a mechanism which provides for ongoing, informal, two-way communication.

In the early 1980s Tom Peters popularized the phrase “Management By Wandering Around” (MBWA). He and Waterman cited MBWA in their best seller In Search of Excellence as a characteristic of managers in excellent companies. Some managers took the phrase literally and thought that merely wandering around among their employees would make a difference in the quality of the work that was done.

What is actually meant by MBWA is that managers can best communicate their (task and ethical) expectations and requirements in daily, informal meetings with employees. These informal conversations give employees two sets of data. There is the spoken information that is exchanged and the inferred data that employees glean from the more subtle communications which accompany a manager’s words.

Your employees want two results from MBWA:

• They want to know what is expected or required for them to survive and to be successful (tasks and ethics).
• They want to know “how they are doing” at this point in time (tasks and ethics).

What is expected or required for success?

As a way of meeting their need to know your expectations and requirements for survival/success, employees are constantly trying to determine your “real agenda.” What you say is only part of the answer. They also pay close attention to what you do and assign meaning to those deeds.

MBWA is an ongoing opportunity for you to informally communicate your agenda, to let your employees know what is important to you. At a minimum the content of an MBWA contact should communicate your Goals (G), Roles (R), Expectations (E) and Priorities (P). The acronym

GREP can be a useful memory aid.

• Goals - When “wandering around” make certain that you remind people of the short-term and long-term goals of the job. They should see how their goals support the organization’s mission and vision.
• Roles – Let employees know how their piece of the job fits into the bigger picture. Remind them of their importance and value. Ensure that they understand their role as it relates to yours.
• Expectations - Be certain that employees understand exactly what you expect. What has to be done? When? To what standards? How will it be evaluated? What should they do if they encounter any roadblocks or unanticipated changes? How do you want them to handle questions and/or “gray areas” where expectations may be unclear or conflicting?
• Priorities - Remind your employees of the organization’s operational priorities. If safety, quality and customer service come first for example, then make that clear to your employees. Be clear about what you expect them to do when they experience conflicts between any of these core values.

The stories you tell and the events you comment upon are also strong indicators of what impresses you, what you consider important. It is crucial that managers never lose sight of the fact that everything they say and do is observed, interpreted and discussed.

MBWA is also an opportunity for the leader to listen and learn. This is a dialogue, and it is just as important for you to hear your employees’ expectations, needs, concerns and motives as it is for them to understand your requirements and expectations.

How am I doing?

Current motivation theory strongly suggests that people need to know where they stand. They have to be able to assess their success as judged by those people whose opinion of them matters to them. As a leader, your opinion matters to your people. They want to know how you think they are doing.

During your MBWA you have an opportunity to let your employees know where they stand, how they are doing when measured against your GREP as well as the organization’s mission, vision and values. You can offer informal praise and recognition, reinforcing desired behavior. Or you may need to do spot coaching and counseling to change undesired behavior. MBWA is your chance to give reassurances, encouragement and direction to ensure that everyone is operating under the same beliefs and assumptions.

Feedback skills are critical to this process. Some of the characteristics of effective feedback include:

• Objectivity – Describe behavior rather than personal traits.
• Specific versus General – Focus on a particular example of behavior.
• Descriptive versus Judgmental – Include enough detail so the person can be certain of what you saw.
• Dialog versus Lecture – Get the other person involved in a dialogue (see note below).
• Timing - Give the other person feedback at a time when it is most helpful and usable.
• Respect – Describe your observations in ways which protect the self-esteem of the receiver.
• Viable Alternatives – Suggest things the person can do to improve a situation.
• Test For Understanding – Make sure that the person understands what you saw and what you want.

Note: One model for giving feedback aimed at changing behavior is to begin with a maximum of two sentences:

• Sentence 1 – A straightforward statement of what you have observed.
• Sentence 2 – A straightforward statement of why you are concerned about what you have observed.

These two sentences are immediately followed by your invitation to the other person to express how they feel about your observations and concerns. This process ensures that the feedback session is a dialogue, not a lecture.

Authenticity

The benefit of an authentic relationship is that it builds mutual trust and respect, two prerequisites for an ethical organization. In order for the relationship to be based on mutual trust, the manager must honestly communicate what he or she is experiencing.

For many managers, this kind of authentic communication feels awkward because it is so patently honest. It eliminates the half-truths, white lies and evasions that many managers have used to avoid the discomfort they experience when they honestly confront their employees’ performance. Authenticity requires first that you are honest with yourself and second that you demonstrate the courage to be honest with those who depend on your feedback for their success. Without authenticity, there can be no ethical management.

1996 Ethics Resource Center.

Reprinted with permission.