In accepting the monkey, the manager has voluntarily assumed a position subordinate to his subordinate. Subordinate-imposed time begins the moment a monkey successfully leaps from the back of a subordinate to the back of his or her superior and does not end until the monkey is returned to its proper owner for care and feeding. After they parted, on whose back was it? The manager’s. Before the two of them met, on whose back was the “monkey”? The subordinate’s. Meanwhile, let me think about it, and I’ll let you know.” Then he and Jones part company. Eventually, the manager says, “So glad you brought this up. Namely, the manager knows (a) enough to get involved, but (b) not enough to make the on-the-spot decision expected of him. You see….” As Jones continues, the manager recognizes in this problem the two characteristics common to all the problems his subordinates gratuitously bring to his attention. When the two meet, Jones greets the manager with, “Good morning. Let us imagine that a manager is walking down the hall and that he notices one of his subordinates, Jones, coming his way. Hence we shall use the monkey-on-the-back metaphor to examine how subordinate-imposed time comes into being and what the superior can do about it. Most managers spend much more time dealing with subordinates’ problems than they even faintly realize. They will then use the added increment to get better control over their boss-imposed and system-imposed activities. Managers should try to increase the discretionary component of their self-imposed time by minimizing or doing away with the subordinate component. Thus their self-imposed time becomes their major area of concern. Since what their bosses and the system impose on them are subject to penalty, managers cannot tamper with those requirements. To accommodate those demands, managers need to control the timing and the content of what they do. Self-imposed time is not subject to penalty since neither the boss nor the system can discipline the manager for not doing what they didn’t know he had intended to do in the first place. The remaining portion will be the manager’s own and is called discretionary time. A certain portion of this kind of time, however, will be taken by subordinates and is called subordinate-imposed time. Self-imposed time-used to do those things that the manager originates or agrees to do. Neglecting these requests will also result in penalties, though not always as direct or swift. System-imposed time-used to accommodate requests from peers for active support. Specifically, we shall deal with three kinds of management time:īoss-imposed time-used to accomplish those activities that the boss requires and that the manager cannot disregard without direct and swift penalty. Why is it that managers are typically running out of time while their subordinates are typically running out of work? Here we shall explore the meaning of management time as it relates to the interaction between managers and their bosses, their peers, and their subordinates. Covey to provide a commentary (see the sidebar “Making Time for Gorillas”). For its reissue as a Classic, HBR asked Stephen R. Editor’s note: This article was originally published in the November–December 1974 issue of HBR and has been one of the publication’s two best-selling reprints ever.
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