Stop By and Say 'Hi'

Now that you've taken the first step, knowing their first name and using it to address them, take the second step.

Stop By and Say 'Hi.'

What's in it for you?

Exercise, lower cholesterol and blood pressure, better sleeping, better moods, clarity of mind, improved memory, increased creativity and problem-solving ...

Oh, and a different perspective to your work and challenges and opportunities that you'll miss if you sit behind a desk and read reports or in a conference room at meetings.

That's to start.

But we're not here to talk about walking and health unless you include the health of your organization or team. See, when they see you walking around, stopping by and saying 'hi' they'll know you care enough to get up and come visit.

Now, standing with them where they work or take a break, you're engaging with them. It's not the be-all, end-all, of your engagement. It's the starting point. It's unscripted, it's in your words with your voices. That's engagement.

Meetings ABOUT people isn't engaging. It's a lazy man's way to having something to talk about. Meetings ABOUT engagement aren't any more engaging, for the same reason. You already know that; you've been to them.

Engaging WITH people is engaging.

It's so simple.

Maybe your social skills have calcified since you became a manager. It happens, happens to a lot of managers if you consider that millions of bad managers are killing our economy. ( I don't think that. I think tens of thousands of companies are creating managers as an even lazier way out of engaging with employees; and then those same companies don't offer training to these newly-made managers, toughest job around, and then blame them for their company's declining performance and employee engagement scores.)

Here's a simple plan. My friend Stephen Lynch, COO of RESULTSdotcom and author of an award-winning book Business Execution fo Results, shared this with me. It's a 2 and 2 program. Two minutes and two questions. See? Easy.

Spend two more minutes than you normally would with each employee and ask ask them two questions. That's an effective tactic to engage with everyone. It's a highly-leveraged investment of time in building respect and trust and common interests. That's engagement.

Two minutes, two questions. You can do that, can't you?

That opportunity comes when you stop by and say 'hi.'

WARNING: Self-Promotion.

If you want to know more ways to engage with your employees as opposed to anonymous surveys, my book RECOGNIZE THEM: 52 Ways to Recognize Your Employees in Ways They Value offers 52 ways to recognize your employees, easy exercises to reinforce those habits and skills and inspirational quotes to keep you going.

Here’s what some business experts are saying about the book.