Are you feeling out of touch with the rank and file? Or do you want to know what’s really going on in a department or the company? If so, it might be time to add a regularly scheduled skip-level meeting to your arsenal of leadership tools.

A skip-level meeting is simply a meeting where a manager’s manager meets directly with employees, without that manager in attendance.

The benefits of such meetings are obvious: Unfiltered access to information about what’s really going on in the organization – good or bad. Concerns, obstacles, insights and issues – those all come tumbling out if the purpose of the meeting is communicated accurately beforehand and conducted well.