Both observation and listening must be thoughtful and active. One way to approach this is to intentionally decide to observe work processes and ask staff members to describe the processes to you. Using the framework of people, process, and technology you will be able to evaluate how your staff members accomplish their work each day. This is an especially good approach to take following implementation or replacement of technology within your department. Asking staff members to demonstrate processes and actively listening to their descriptions of their work can provide many clues to possible workarounds that may have been developed, access issues, or retraining that may be needed.

However, thoughtful and active observation and listening does not need to be reserved for major change such as technology implementations. There are multiple processes, to include our own work tasks that would benefit from this evaluation. This is a leadership practice that helps clarify vision for the future by stepping back and understanding the work occurring around us.