Managing the Monkey
Who works for who? If you are the boss, shouldn’t you tell those working for you what to do?
Many times the boss spends inordinate amounts of their time on subordinate imposed time. This is when the subordinate asks for help, and the boss tells him or her that he will have to get back to them. The boss usually does not have the time upon demand to help them, but he says he will think about the problem and will report back. The subordinate now has this job [or monkey as the jobs are referred to] off their back, and it is on the bosses back.
Picture a job at hand as a monkey that is on the shoulders of the person who has to do that job. When a subordinate asks for help and the boss says he will think about it, the monkey jumps from the shoulders of the subordinate to the boss. At the end of the day, the subordinate has no open items. The boss, though, has the load of four or five subordinates, who very carefully and diligently shed their monkeys from their shoulders to that of their boss.
The trick is to not end up with the monkey. Never allow a subordinate to leave you with the monkey. If a decision needs to be made by you, ask the subordinate to present two or three alternatives so you could pick the best one. This way your subordinates leave your office with the monkeys. Manage the Monkey!
Adapted from Management time: Who’s got the monkey? by William Oncken, Jr. and Donald L. Wass ©1974 Harvard Business Review [Reprint #74607]
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