56. To be successful, get out with the workers and pick up information46

Managers who don' t make the effort to know what is happening with their staff and who don't interact with others unless they have to, seen as managers who are inaccessible and often out of touch with the organisation and its people.

Frequent and direct communication with your fellow workers, both in the office and the field, allows you to find out what is and isn't working, how people feel about their work, how they go about doing what they do. It may help you to identify problems before they occur or before they become worse.

You don't always need to conduct a meeting to get information. You can accomplish this informally and effectively in the following ways:

• Make a point of walking around the office once a day to talk to employees.

• Have an occasional lunch with your staff. Use the time to get to know people, catch up on news, discuss some ideas.

• Don't limit yourself to talks with higher level staff; it may be that other workers are more aware of a particular problem and can do more to help resolve it.