Time is a resource we control. If we don¡¯t, we get stressed like when:
¡öWe¡¯re up against a deadline
¡öWork volume is overtaking us
¡öWe need help
¡öPriorities conflict
We¡¯re not much fun to be around when we¡¯re on edge. Time stress affects the way we relate to our peers and employees. It makes decision-making more difficult and less reliable. It takes its toll.

Avoiding the time drain trap

People are often the culprit, especially those who:

¡öWaste our time with low value requests
¡öInterrupt us looking for information
¡öDistract us so we make mistakes or lose momentum
¡öPile on by assigning new tasks
Day-to-day, most time drains come from our own employees. That¡¯s when we need to look within and ask ourselves, ¡°How am I at fault for letting this happen?¡±

In 1974, Bill Oncken co-authored an article for the Harvard Business Review titled, ¡°Managing Management Time: Who¡¯s Got the Monkey?¡±

His view was that the work we assume responsibility for is the ¡°monkey on our back.¡± That work, however, isn¡¯t always really ours, but we¡¯ve taken it on anyway, giving it our precious time.

Oncken¡¯s Rules

Oncken¡¯s principles of managing management time were turned into a classic book by Ken Blanchard, The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey.

In it, Blanchard presents Oncken¡¯s thesis about managing management time:

¡°Taking the initiative away from people and caring for and feeding their monkeys is nothing more than rescuing them, that is, doing things for them they can do for themselves.¡±

Every time we do work our employees can¡¯t, won¡¯t, or don¡¯t do, we put their monkeys on our backs like this:

Harriet comes to you at the eleventh hour to admit she doesn¡¯t know how to upload her data for the department report. She asks you to help her just this once. You grudgingly say ¡°yes¡± because that¡¯s easy.

What you¡¯ve taught Harriet is that, in a pinch, you¡¯ll bail her out. She¡¯ll now convince herself that you don¡¯t mind helping her and will feel free to try this tactic again.

In this example the monkey is not Harriet and it¡¯s not the task. Oncken tells us the monkey is ¡°the next move.¡± In this case, you chose to accept Harriet¡¯s work task as your next move. You will now add a time drain to your job and subtract one for Harriet.

In this case, your other options were:

1.Telling Harriet to follow the upload process in the manual
2.Accepting that Harriet¡¯s data will be uploaded late
3.Teaming Harriet with a peer who successfully completed the upload early and now has time to coach her
Solution #3 likely solves the problem without it consuming your time. It keeps the monkey at the right level of the organization. You can deal with Harriet¡¯s performance issues later.

Managers face situations like this every day: employee requests for information, clarification, approvals, and input. Each one can become an avoidable time drain by managing the monkey¡ªthat next move.

When faced with one of these situations, Oncken proposes we follow these four rules:

1.Describe the monkey clearly so that you and the employee understand and agree on who has the next move(s)
2.Assign each monkey to the appropriate person/people
3.Insure the monkey by making it clear whether the responsible person: a.) must recommend and get approval from the manager before acting or b.) can act and then advise afterward
4.Check on the monkey to provide feedback, praise, or direct changes
Work smart

Working long hours does nothing to raise your currency with employees or bosses. Instead it¡¯s a sign that you can¡¯t manage your time effectively or use company resources (your employees) appropriately.

Your employees will delegate up to you if you allow it. When you suffer from time stress, everyone in your life feels it. So do yourself a favor and read Blanchard¡¯s book. It¡¯s a short and easy read that will make a big difference.