In tough times, bosses need to get out and talk to employees

— -- There is a palpable anxiety in Officeville these days.

Just when everyone thought it was safe to come out from under their desks after the recession was declared over — BAM! Europe started to shake and companies hunkered down again.

Any idea what that does to morale?

"It is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain good morale and productivity, and keep employees engaged in their jobs, throughout the recession and the past three years of the stalled recovery. Employers are again managing what had been employees' rising expectations and are now dealing with confronting rumors of layoffs and cutbacks and rising concerns about job security," said Annie Stevens, managing partner at executive-coaching firm ClearRock.

So, if you're the boss, what's your first move to lower the collective heart rate of the office?

Stevens says the answer is an oldie but a goodie — "Management by Walking Around," which is credited to Bill Hewlett and David Packard, founders of Hewlett-Packard. It's a technique that's been used by many Fortune 500 companies and was a favorite of Apple founder Steve Jobs.

E-mail and mobile devices have been great for keeping businesses connected, but they've had a bad side effect — a sharp drop in face-to-face communications. And when a company is going through tough times, employees and bosses alike need that face time most.

"When you have periods of high change, you want to increase your interaction with people — not decrease," says Marie McIntyre, a career coach and the author of "Secrets to Winning at Office Politics."

For the boss, it creates a "listening post," which helps you understand what's going on, McIntyre said. "These are the people who are delivering the services, making the products and interacting with customers," she said. "I've seen far too many managers who get totally out of touch with their business."

And for employees, it can be a huge motivator — and calming factor.

"Right now, many may be feeling trapped in their job … and if they never see the boss or CEO, they just wind up feeling like a widget performing a task — not important," McIntyre said. "For those people, a visit by the boss can make them feel valued and important — something that will motivate them."

And it's not just the supervisor who should be getting up and walking around. McIntyre says everyone up to the CEO should be periodically getting up, walking around and interacting with employees.

ClearRock offers these tips for Management by Walking Around (MBWA):

• Do it yourself. Don't bring an entourage.

• Don't announce it in advance. That will help keep the interaction natural and effective. And when you're walking around, say "hi" and smile at people — otherwise you may come off as standoffish.

• Come with a few questions. Remember, the boss makes a lot of people nervous and many may get flustered and not know what to say. Ask simple questions like, "What is your hottest selling item?" or "What are you hearing from customers these days?"

• Follow up. One easy way to kill the positive impact of walking around is to act interested and then not follow up! Make a note to follow up with employees if there was a question you didn't know the answer to at that moment; or you can even ask the employee to send you an e-mail to remind you.