—John le Carré
Management by walking around, they used to call it. The One-Minute Manager celebrated it. It's the simplest and hardest activity of any supervisor.
Getting off the chair, out from behind the desk, and out into the area of your personal responsibility is also the most essential part of a supervisor's job. After all, your primary job is not answering emails, writing reports, analyzing data, or keeping your boss happy. Your primary job is helping your employees do their jobs. If those other activities directly support your primary job, then find a way to fit them in when you can take some minutes away from that primary job. Otherwise, don't do them.
Here is a lovely, succinct summary. Go out there, don't rush, wander, make eye contact, smile, greet by name, ask questions you don't know the answers to, let your employees educate you, show honest respect for their expertise, practice appropriate humility, listen without simply waiting for your chance to talk, invite jokes on yourself and laugh at them, remember that every one of these people knows something you don't know and is probably as smart as you are, remember that every one of these people knows his job far better than you do, and remember that you are always on stage and are being judged by every instant of your behavior. If you do this right, you will leave the shop floor or its equivalent feeling humble, proud, exhilarated, energized, and full of useful ideas. You will be respected and liked by your employees rather than tolerated. They will tell you things. They will get you out of trouble before you even know you're getting into it. And you will all produce better widgets on time.
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