Be Present

How often have you walked into your boss’s office to ask a question only to find them banging away on their keyboard, texting, or talking on the phone… and they never stop those tasks while you try to have a conversation with them? In its worst forms, this all too common attempt at “multi-tasking” is disrespectful and conveys messages of “you are less important.”

How many times have you demonstrated this behavior to your colleagues and employees?

Being present is one of the key components of driving employee engagement through concern for your employees’ well-being. From my point of view and research in creating a highly engaged workforce, being present is comprised of two components:

1) You are emotionally and mentally engaged with your colleague, giving them your undivided attention. You are “completely there” for them and nothing else is a distraction. Eye contact* is made and you actively listen while shutting down the voices in your head to get other things done. You ask pertinent questions that demonstrate your active listening. You don’t interrupt.

What message does this send to your co-worker? Respect. You are important and nothing else matters right now but you. You care.

2) You are physically present. This means taking the time to get out of your office and making the rounds. Remember MBWA- Management By Walking Around? It still works and it still fits. Schedule it in your day, as nothing says you care like face to face contact with your employees. Connect with them with your presence… not an email. Smile, shake some hands, and hand out some presence (pun intended).

I remember working for a new organization and one of my four facilities was about an hour’s drive away. In my second week, I went to visit them. No one from the corporate office had been to see them in 18 months. Guess what they were thinking when I showed up? Oh no, layoffs! Who is in trouble now? I made a point of getting there at least monthly so they knew someone from HQ knew they were an important part of a bigger picture. More importantly, it showed them I cared.

“Be present X 2!” Be physically present and be emotionally and mentally present. Maybe you want to print this out and slide it under your boss’s door?

*One of the more painful lessons I learned was understanding that some cultures do not think eye contact is a sign of respect. Regardless of your heritage, do what you believe to be respectful of the other person. Don’t assume if the other person doesn’t mimic your behaviors of respect that they don’t respect you. It may be generational differences, cultural norms, or maybe they were just raised differently than you were raised.