dhikchik ("dhik chik!")

Other than carving out the time on your schedule, the obstacles are few and the payoff is quite high. In recent conversations, two senior executives who engage in this — George Colony, CEO of Forrester Research, and Tom Leppert, the Mayor of Dallas — offered a number of reasons why they do it:

1. Gets me an unfiltered finger on the pulse faster than anything.
2. Gives me a clearer sense of what our people are doing with their time, and what the little annoyances are that can grow big.
3. Lets people know, first-hand, that I am pretty accessible, that I'm interested in their work, and that I actually do care.

Here are some suggestions to get you started, each of which you can adapt or modify depending upon the location, the circumstances and the type of work you or your organization performs:

1. Change location. Move your desk to the middle of the action or the middle of the workforce. Do it for a period of no less than three weeks — the longer, the better. Some executives I know have moved there permanently.
2. Take a trip. Ride, walk, or travel with the frontline people, on off-hours and in less-than "showcase" locations. More than two years into his term, Mayor Tom Leppert still rides with firemen and policemen on a regular and irregular basis.
3. Shadow your workers. Go to meetings and sales calls, not just with the big clients or customers, but with more representative ones as well.
4. Make it personal. Write personalized notes of thanks to your employees, and keep the channels and the communications open with them afterward.