The Hindu Business Line : Are monkeys leaping up your back?

A monkey, according to him, is the next move, initiative or action step in resolving a problem. "In most of your conversations during working hours, there comes a point where the dialogue breaks off and there is a next move." Monkey is what conventional managers call `assignment' says the author. Project, which is the vector sum of a lot of little assignments, is the `gorilla' - `a lot of little monkeys laid nose-to-tail'.

Watch out for the upward-leaping monkeys, the next moves that have been delegated backwards! These are manifestations of subordinate-imposed time, which can chew up a lot of your discretionary time, the author cautions. "Subordinate-imposed time begins the moment a monkey successfully executes a leap from the back of a subordinate to the back of his or her manager, and it does not end until the monkey is returned to its proper owner for care and feeding."

Managers must be clear about `who has the monkey'; else "no one knows who has the next move or even what the next move is." Managers are paid to make sure that the right person does the right thing at the right time, says Oncken. He defines a `freedom scale', at the top end (level 5) of which subordinates act and then routinely report; they are selfmanaging or self-directing, acting within the guidelines.

With such people, "you win because you are having to spend less of your discretionary time in supervisory interactions." At level 4, you find people acting but advising at once, that is, more frequently than `routine'.

At the lowest end, level 1, your people wait until told; they take the least initiative. A little better is level 2, because here they ask what to do. "When your people operate at freedom levels 1 and 2, they create subordinateimposed time for you - time you must spend doing their thinking, planning, and problem-solving for them. It is time imposed on you by your staff. It takes discretionary time - your discretionary time - to do this."

When subordinates operate at freedom levels 1 and 2, they are like millstones around your neck! At level 3, several positive things happen, says Oncken. The subordinates recommend and then take resulting action. At this level, "you are engaging their brains; they are beginning to self-actualise; they are learning the twin arts of formulating and selling their ideas; and as they successfully sell you on their recommendations, you are gaining confidence in their abilities."

A book that can help you check if you are `a magnet for monkeys'!

D. MURALI

http://BookPeek.blogspot.com