Although the term “wandering” is often synonymous with a lack of direction, J.R.R Tolkien perhaps said it best that “not all those who wander are lost”. Far from pointless, my daily (time permitting) wander around the office is an exercise in prudence. 

Split over three floors, Saffery’s Guernsey office could be restrictive when it comes to keeping your finger on the pulse and engaging with other team members. It would be possible – and arguably easier - for me to spend my entire day on my floor, engaging only with the people in the immediate vicinity of my desk. If I chose to do this, there would soon come a time where I wouldn’t be able to recognise members of staff on other floors, or have any idea what their role is without looking them up on the team intranet.

An enthusiast of the concept of Management by Wandering Around (MBWA) – which identifies the practice as “a genuine strategy for staying abreast of people’s work, interests and ideas" - I set a daily target of spending half an hour walking around each floor of the office and engaging with my colleagues.

The art of MBWA is an excellent way to touch base with other teams and creates an opening to find out whether targets are on track, whether people feel heard, or identifying opportunities for collaboration, without the need for formal, time-consuming meetings. MBWA is a hugely effective tool in understanding the challenges and opportunities faced by each team, as well as allowing for the anticipation of any issues before they arise.

Aside from the professional benefits of engaging with other teams in the office, talking to your colleagues releases hormones in your brain which boost your mood, improve trust and increase your learning ability.

I firmly believe that the people around me are every bit as important as my clients and the work I undertake in my role, and I place a high value on building positive, trusting relationships with all team members. Under the guise of an aimless amble, I like to think the interactions I have on my walk have allowed me to become one of the more sociable and recognisable faces around the office. It is worth noting I am not the only one with this foothold, but I would like to see more.

For a standard 35-hour week, full-time employees will spend an average of 3,515 days of their life at work. With more than one-third of our lifetime spent with our colleagues, the relationships we build with them can play an integral role in both our professional and personal happiness.

Human psychology fascinates me; I love finding out what makes people tick. My enthusiasm for and engagement in understanding what motivates people is undoubtedly what drew me to my role in private client service and extends to my colleagues.

I am captivated by individual nuances and actively seek out hidden skills and stories. My wandering around the office has allowed me to gain an insight into close to 100 people who sit at their desks – diligent and unassuming – each with a lifetime of stories going largely unheard. The value of personal experiences, ideologies and thought processes of each individual cannot, in my opinion, ever be overestimated.

While it would not be practical, or advisable, for everyone to walk around the office talking to their co-workers all day long, I would actively encourage everyone to take the time – perhaps once a week, or once a month – to take steps [pun intended] to engage with their wider team and see the benefit for themselves.