Breaking Free from Monkeys

Empower Your Team and Reclaim Your Time

Do you often find yourself solving most problems for your team? Are you struggling with delegation and left with no time for strategic work? Do you end up spending too much time on operational work?

Suruchi was facing a similar problem. Every time she inquired Ajay, her team member about the project’s progress, Ajay tossed the “monkey” back onto her shoulders. He would often complain of not getting time from Suruchi, without making an adequate effort to find solutions at his end. The result? The project was stagnant, important deadlines were getting missed by weeks, and confusion was all around.

“In the workplace, the term “monkeys” is often used metaphorically to represent tasks, issues, or problems that individuals pass on to others.“

Before moving further in Suruchi’s story, let us understand some common types of “monkeys” encountered in the workplace:

1. The Communication Monkey: This monkey hops onto your shoulder when team members fail to communicate effectively. It includes situations like unanswered emails, misaligned expectations, and unclear instructions which eventually lead to delays, confusion, and misunderstandings.
2. The Procrastination Monkey: This monkey represents tasks that keep getting postponed indefinitely due to fear of failure, inability to deal with uncertainty, lack of desire, or incapability. This indecision or procrastination often leads to delays, hinders progress, and prevents the timely completion of important tasks.
3. The Responsibility Monkey: This monkey lands on the manager’s shoulder when team members avoid taking ownership of their responsibilities, usually due to a lack of desire or capability. This includes missed deadlines, incomplete work, and lack of initiative. Responsibility monkeys create a burden for managers, affecting overall team productivity.
4. The Escalation Monkey: This monkey loves to climb the hierarchy. When team members encounter challenges, they escalate issues to their managers without attempting to resolve them first. Escalation monkeys overload managers, diverting their attention from strategic tasks.
5. The Gossip Monkey: Gossip monkeys thrive on workplace rumors and negativity. They spread hearsay, create tension, and damage team morale. Gossip monkeys erode trust and harm team dynamics.
6. The Perfectionism Monkey: This monkey insists on perfection. Team members who obsess over minor details or endlessly revise work fall into this category. Perfectionism monkeys slow down progress and hinder creativity.

In this case, Suruchi had both the responsibility monkey and the escalation monkey on her back. She had failed to identify them at the right time and now it had become a norm with Ajay. With her increasing responsibilities, she found it difficult to carry the burden of this monkey on her back any longer. It was also affecting her growth as she found herself stuck managing operational tasks with limited time left for her strategic responsibilities. Besides, this was setting a bad example for her other team members and impacting growth.

“Effective management involves recognizing these monkeys and finding ways to delegate, address, or eliminate them.”

So how does Suruchi come out of this situation? Before we find a solution for Suruchi, let’s understand two powerful frameworks - "Who's Got the Monkey?" and "Making Time for Gorillas." These frameworks offer key insights for managers and enable them to not just reclaim their own time for discretionary work, but truly empower their teams, and foster a culture of accountability.

Who's Got the Monkey?

In their classic 1974 article, Oncken and Wass introduced the concept of "monkeys." Monkeys represent tasks, issues, or problems that need attention. The twist? Monkeys often leap from subordinates' backs onto managers. Here's how it happens:

• Monkeys Multiply: Subordinates bring their tasks, issues, or problems (monkeys) to managers. These could be requests, questions, or unresolved issues.
• The Monkey Transfer: Managers unwittingly accept these monkeys, believing they're helping. However, by doing so, they take on the responsibility for solving the problem.
• The Monkey on the Back: Once the manager accepts the monkey, it becomes their responsibility. They now have to manage it, allocate resources, and find solutions.
• The Dance Begins: The monkey dance ensues. Managers spend precious time feeding and caring for these monkeys, while subordinates watch from the sidelines.

The key takeaway is that effective management involves recognizing these monkeys and finding ways to delegate, address, or eliminate them. Managers should avoid unintentionally taking on too many monkeys, which can hinder their strategic work. To break free from the monkey dance, managers can:

• Recognize the Monkeys: Identify the monkeys - tasks or decisions that belong to your subordinates.
• Delegate Effectively: Keep most monkeys on the subordinate's back. Delegate responsibility but stay informed.
• Transfer Initiative: Encourage subordinates to propose solutions. Transfer the initiative back to them.

Making Time for Gorillas

Stephen Covey's time management matrix divides tasks into four quadrants based on urgency and importance:

1. Urgent and Important (Quadrant I): Gorillas! These are your most critical tasks – think fires to douse, impending deadlines to meet, and emergencies to handle.
2. Important but Not Urgent (Quadrant II): This quadrant is about strategic planning. Think long-term impact. These are the real game-changers.
3. Urgent but Not Important (Quadrant III): Monkeys! These tasks seem urgent but lack true importance. Delegate or eliminate them.
4. Not Urgent and Not Important (Quadrant IV): These are timewasters. Avoid these distractions and be wary of them.

“Effective managers learn to prioritize gorillas and delegate monkeys appropriately.”

The challenge is to allocate time for gorillas (strategic work) while managing the monkeys (operational tasks). To Prioritize the gorillas, Covey suggests:

1. Gorilla Time: Allocate significant chunks of your day to Quadrant II - gorilla time. Invest in long-term impact.
2. Monkey Management: Handle Quadrant I (gorillas) first, then address Quadrant III (monkeys). Delegate where possible.
3. Avoid Distractions: Minimize Quadrant IV activities. Guard your time fiercely.

The Solution

As Suruchi grapples with Ajay's monkey dance, she can apply these principles:

Identify the Monkeys: Suruchi should assess which monkeys are affecting her productivity. Is it the responsibility monkey (Ajay’s lack of ownership) or the escalation monkey (Ajay’s habit of passing issues to her)? By identifying the specific monkeys, Suruchi can address them more effectively. She needs to recognize when Ajay tosses monkeys her way and must not jump into solving every problem that comes her way.

Delegate and Empower: Suruchi should delegate tasks appropriately. For example:

-????????? Responsibility Monkey: She can set clear expectations with Ajay, emphasizing ownership and accountability.

-????????? Escalation Monkey: Encourage Ajay to find solutions before escalating issues to her. Empowering team members to handle their monkeys fosters a culture of accountability.

Build Capability and Understand Intent: Invest time in building Ajay’s capability if need be. Engage in a meaningful conversation to understand the gaps. She should also understand if there is a gap in his desire or intent and engage with him to find solutions. Identify the drivers leading to this gap.

Time Management: Suruchi should allocate time for strategic work (gorillas) by managing the monkeys efficiently. Prioritize tasks based on impact and urgency.

Lead by Example: Suruchi’s behavior sets the tone for her team. If she handles monkeys effectively, others will follow suit. She should encourage a proactive approach among team members.

Effective management involves recognizing and managing monkeys while creating a supportive environment for growth. Suruchi can break free from the monkeys by empowering her team and reclaiming her time for strategic tasks!

Remember, it's time to stop dancing with monkeys and start leading with gorillas.

For more such stories, stay tuned to “She Thrives Now”.

#SheThrivesNow #Delegation #Leadership

P.S. Views are strictly personal. Any resemblance to individuals, living or otherwise, is purely coincidental and not intended. This article reflects general observations and is not a reflection of any specific workplace, including my current one.