GET RID OF

“THE MONKEYS ON YOUR BACK”

 ARE YOU THE MANAGER
‘’Mr. GOODIE’’ ?
Do you say , any of these, to your subordinates?
• "Leave it with me"
• "Can I think about that?"
• "I’ll get back to you on that",
• "Send me an e-mail on that will you?”
• “Just let me know how I can help”
• “I will draw up an initial draft”
 ARE YOU THE MANAGER
“Mr. GOODIE ”?
Do you ....
• find your peers often drop things on your desk
and ask you to do them,
• Find it hard to say "no" to other people or
• Find yourself volunteering for things only to
regret it later.
 “MONKEYS ON
THE GOODIE MANAGER’S BACK”
If you answer affirmatively, then you are
• Taking on the problems of your subordinates or
peers, rather than helping them solve the
problems themselves.
• Probably not having much time for family
or your own job enhancement

In other words, you are carrying too many

responsibilities or “monkeys on your back” that
properly belong to others.
 “MONKEYS ON
THE GOODIE MANAGER’S BACK”
When you carry the monkeys on your back, you
will find …
• you are always running out of time
• your staff is typically running out of work
• Your peers pack off at 5 o’ clock in the evening
while you slog burning mid-night oil
• You are busy with your home-work
during the week-ends
 “MONKEYS ON
THE GOODIE MANAGER’S BACK”
WHAT IS “MONKEYS ON YOUR BACK” ?
A monkey
• Is an idea, opportunity or
a task waiting for action
• lives on people's backs
• can be exchanged and moved around from
person to person.
 “MONKEYS ON
THE GOODIE MANAGER’S BACK”
The monkey lands on your back if you hesitate to
• Delegate the work to your subordinates
• Say “No” to your peers when they put their jobs on your
lap

When you accept a monkey, you have made yourself a

subordinate to the monkey-donor

Unwittingly you are

• Accepting its responsibility
• promising him a progress report
 YOUR TIME MANAGEMENT
Your time has following four components.
ACTIVITIES REQUIRED BY BOSS
TIME FOR ACCOMPLISHING
BOS S IMPOSED

SYSTEM IMPOSED
TIME TO ACCOMMODATE
REQUESTS FROM PEERS. FAILURE
WILL RESULT IN ADMINISTRATIVE /
INTERPERSONAL PROBLEMS

"su bo rd inate impo se d " co mp o nen t.

BELONGING TO SUBORDINATES.
Min im iz e o r do away wi th th e

TIM E SPENT O N DIONG JO BS

SUBORDINATE I MP OSED
GROWTH
CONCENTRATE ON SELF / CAREER
MO RE PRODUCTI VE AN D
BEC IDE TO DO , TIME TO BECOM E
TI ME TO DO THINGS WHICH YOU
SELF IMPOSED
 GETTING RID OF THE MONKEYS
ON YOUR BACK
The question is:
• How you get rid of the monkeys on your back?
• How do you manage the monkeys to get the
things done?

There are 5 rules and if you violate them, then

your self imposed time will be eaten away.
 GETTING RID OF THE MONKEYS
ON YOUR BACK
Rule #1: Monkeys should be fed or shot.

• Make sure your staff are feeding their monkeys with the
appropriate attention.
• If a monkey isn't getting attention, it will
demand more attention than if it were
addressed immediately.
• It occasionally becomes necessary to shoot a monkey because
it's no longer important or required. it would be better to just
remove it as a to-do and move on.
 GETTING RID OF THE MONKEYS
ON YOUR BACK
Rule #2: The monkey population should be kept below
the maximum number that you have time to feed.
• Your people will only work on the number of monkeys
that they have time for.
• If your people have too many monkeys, you're going
to have too many monkeys to care for and feed, too.
• It's important that no one
becomes overloaded in your
team.
 GETTING RID OF THE MONKEYS
ON YOUR BACK
Rule #3: Monkeys should be fed by
appointment only.

• If one of your subordinates walks into your office with a

monkey, it's sometimes a good idea to send them away
to schedule a time to come back.

• Sometimes you just need a little more time on your own

to figure out a problem. Give the person a thought that
might get him approaching the problem from a different
angle by which he takes care of the monkey himself.
 GETTING RID OF THE MONKEYS
ON YOUR BACK
Rule #4: Monkeys should be fed face to face or by
telephone, but not in writing.

• If someone sends you an e-mail or a document about a

monkey they're carrying that requires a response, now you
have the monkey!

• Even some phone calls can move a monkey to you, so be

careful how you talk.

• If you want to help your staff to take care of their own

monkey, talk to them face to face.
 GETTING RID OF THE MONKEYS
ON YOUR BACK
Rule #5: Every monkey should be assigned the next
feeding time and a degree of initiative.

• If a task can not be completed in a short term and you want

to check in, then feed the monkey on a regular basis.

• By assigning how much initiative is needed, you also can set

how much progress should be made before the next feeding.

• If you just check in to see how things are going without a

progressing target, then nothing will happen and the
monkey jumps onto your back.