Monkey management: Effective delegation

Monkey management: Effective delegation

Back in 1974, Oncken and Wass wrote a Harvard Business Review article called, “Who’s Got the Monkey?” It used monkeys as metaphors for tasks or projects. It was well-received nearly 50 years ago, and the article remains a popular reprint today. The...
Do you rescue people?

Do you rescue people?

A leader (we’ll call him Fred) recently lamented, “I feel like I set direction for people and give them deadlines, but they just don’t get stuff done. So when the deadline is looming, I end up doing it myself.” How do you hold people...
Delegate to the busy

Delegate to the busy

“I can’t delegate anything! We’ve had staff cuts, and everyone is too busy already.” That’s a pretty frequent comment made by leaders. Is there no other option but doing it yourself? Actually, delegation can still happen, even if...
True alignment

True alignment

I’m in the early planning stages for an event for a nonprofit organization. This process has reacquainted me with the need to work hard to get all parties aligned on a project before moving forward. Too often, I take it for granted that everyone is on the same...