The leadership practice of being visible, present, and listening openly to staff gets called lots of different things: purposeful rounding, rounding for influence, “walkabouts,” and MBWA (management by walking around). Sometimes I think we worry too much about what we call it instead of how we’re consistently doing it. Approaches vary significantly across and even within organizations, creating equally significant differences in effectiveness.
Employee engagement surveys and other metrics can tell us a lot, but over 10 years ago I witnessed a much more immediate, qualitative way to see how employees really feel about our rounding. It still sticks with me today.
During a major project we were leading for Press Ganey, I had the good fortune to meet and learn from Pedro Ceniza, RN, who was at the time an assistant director of nursing at Jacobi Medical Center in The Bronx. I was rounding with Mr. Ceniza during the evening/night shift to identify and better understand some of the unique struggles and opportunities to improve patient experience on the third “tour.” The best practice I observed had little to do with the shift itself.
As we rounded on the seven large medical/surgical units throughout the house, I watched as something special happened as we walked onto every floor. Mr. Ceniza greeted each staff member by name and introduced them to me. Nurses, techs, housekeepers – he knew them all. And he wasn’t simply reading the name badges. In fact, he pointed out to several staff members that their badge was not clearly visible.
I didn’t count, but there were easily 10-15 staff members on each unit we visited. That means Mr. Cineza had built a personal connection with hundreds of staff members throughout the house.
“When I step onto a unit, I want all of the staff members to be drawn to me, not to scatter.”
As we finished our rounds, I commented on how impressed – and heartened – I was that he knew everyone we encountered by name. He humbly smiled and said, “When I step onto a unit, I want all of the staff members to be drawn to me, not to scatter.”
And in that moment, I came to appreciate a real-time, meaningful way for leaders to evaluate the effectiveness of their rounding. When you step onto a unit, are staff drawn to you – or do you have to flush them out to have “purposeful” conversations? Their reaction speaks volumes about whether they feel supported – or intimidated – by your efforts to be more visible.