Understanding Monkey Management

Hi all,
Today I am going to discuss a very important topic called 'Monkey Management'. A lot of us already know the term however how many of us understand the term really?

Let us first understand what Monkey Management is actually.
There are couple of obstacles (which we call problems), which keep coming up in our day to day business. That's where the team plays an important role. It's very important to understand each of our  team members so that the task can be delegated to the right person in the team therefore preventing the problem from being delegated upward.

Next, we need to understand that why we need to use it.
It is the manager’s responsibility to develop his/ her team, create opportunities, remove obstacles, set priorities, and many more things which are important, but not urgent. Among all these one thing that needs to be kept in mind are the problems. When managers take problems over from employees, important issues get delayed and the organization as a whole suffers.

A manager needs to understand that he/ she may be good at lot of things but not everything and that's where the team comes into the picture. A manager's duty is to get a problem solved and not try to solve it by himself/ herself. Suggestion should be taken from the team members in order to get a  problem solved.

We also need to understand how to use 'Monkey Management'.
It's not only about you and your problems but also about your team members, their expectations, and their problems as well.

• When a team member approaches  you with a problem, try to understand it before jumping to a conclusion. At times they just want to be heard and understood which leads to a highly functional manager-employee relationship. After some empathetic listening, simply asking the employee “What do you need from me?” can often result in “nothing, i just needed someone to talk to. thanks for listening.”
  Don’t breed monkeys
• If someone walks up to you with a solution, please make sure that you know what he/ she is talking about. If the discussion straight away begins with a solution, ask “What problem are we trying to solve?”
  Identify the monkey
• Decide along with your team if a particular problem needs to be solved or dismissed. Give a clear statement, “I agree that is an issue, but because of (.....), it is not a priority at this time,” is better than an ambiguous acknowledgement.
  Feed or shoot the monkey.
• Give the ownership of a problem to one of your team members but also make it clear at the same time that you find your team members very efficient to take over the particular problem and would help wherever and whenever he/ she needs your help. A good starting position is “I could take this problem, but it would be better for you to handle this. let’s look at how.”
  Don’t take the monkey
• Just because you have assigned a problem to your team, that doesn't mean that it's not your responsibility anymore. Your team will need you help and support through out. Make sure that you set a specific time to address the problem, its solution, and progress until completion – “Tuesday at 2:00” is a good approach. “let’s talk later,” is not good. As long as the problem remains unsolved, end each scheduled discussion with a clear and scheduled next step,
  Schedule the next monkey feeding time.
  
  There are reasons why 'Monkey Management' is a very important term and needs to be practiced in all organizations (big and small):
  
  • A manager gets to use his/ her time in a abetter manner
  • Gives an opportunity to the team members to work upon their problem solving skills
  • Makes an organization strong in terms of problem solving skills
  • Employee satisfaction is definitely higher