The full title of this book by Ken Blanchard, William Oncken Jr and Hal Burrows is
“The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey: Free Up Your Time And Deal With Priorities“.
In my review on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book a FIVE STARS rating. This means I think the book is excellent.
Here is my book review.
If you’re rushed off your feet, this book might be the answer
When I first read read this book in the early 1990s, it was a huge wake-up call.
No wonder there weren’t enough working hours in the day as I allowed my staff’s monkeys to jump onto my shoulders.
A monkey is the next move in a problem or project. All too easily, when a staff member comes to you with a problem, you can fall into the trap of accepting responsibility the next action eg thinking about it to try to find a solution, contacting someone else etc. The less time you have to work through it with your staff member, the greater the tendency for the monkey to jump.
To rub salt into the wound, your staff can then start chasing you to see if you’ve done your step. They are holding you accountable for doing their work.
The book explains the entire process which is illuminating. More importantly, it teaches you how to deal with these monkeys, which normally means making sure that they stay with the staff members but you remain in control by scheduling the next review meeting.
This monkey transfer happens with good intentions. As the manager, you know your job is to support your staff and you’re responsible for what they do or don’t do. Unfortunately allowing a monkey to jump is harmful to you, your organisation and your staff. You get busier, the business doesn’t get the things done it needs done. Your staff can’t learn and develop if, every time things get hard, you take responsibility for the job off them.
Just like The New One Minute Manager, this is a great book that will change the way you work. These books are told in a management fable style to make them easy to read and understand. This one doesn’t have much of a story but hopefully you can see yourself first in the before scenario and then in the after when you’ve learnt monkey management.
It is available to buy from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.
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