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From time to time we find ourselves rediscovering a classic.  It could be an anniversary wine found on that summer tour of Sonoma, an ice cream flavor we loved as a kid, the relaxing smell of salt water from the ocean’s shore, or simply a dust covered novel  tucked away for years in a shelf corner.  In such moments we rediscover ourselves and perhaps even a passion for that something special reignites a motivation or clarity dulled overtime.  Recently, I rediscovered the concept of Monkey Management as is applies to the world of managing projects.

I had forgotten about this famous article by William Oncken, Jr. and Donald L. Wass republished in the Harvard Business Review in January 1990 until my most favorite of all podcasters reminded me.  In “Episode 082: Monkey Management for Project Teams”, host of The Project Management Podcast™ Cornelius Fichtner, PMP interviews Mike Graupner, PMP to ask, “Wait... what's that on your back? Could that be a Monkey?”

Fichtner offers, “In the course of our working days all of us acquire duties, chores and tasks. Some of them are important and they need to be addressed so that we can finish our deliverables. Others must be considered as "Monkeys" - tasks that we got stuck with and now don't seem to be able to get rid of even though we might not be the right person to take care of them. And we all wonder - how did I get stuck with this?”

Graupner goes on to write, “In a classic article in the Harvard Business Review in 1974, authors William Oncken, Jr., and Donald L. Wass offered a theoretical framework for managing problems with the metaphor describing a problem as a “monkey on your back”.  Often time filling the role as PM, BA or QA, we are approached by other people trying to get us to “care and feed”, or even worse, own their monkeys. To survive the project, we often need help in managing these monkeys.” 

Here’s Graupner’s advice on what to do with the monkey’s afflicting your project:

• Recognize the monkey
• “Help me to understand the issue”
• Determine the owner
• “Hmmm, who needs to solve this issue?”
• Define the Impact
• “How is this affecting us?”
• Get agreement of ownership
• “I am not sure this is on my plate, do you agree?”
• Help the owner find an action plan
• “If you did X, would this help?”

So, before you feed your next monkey, take a few minutes to listen to podcast “Episode 082: Monkey Management for Project Teams”, or review a brief presentation on “Monkey Management for project teams”, or even take the time to savor one of the most famous HBS articles ever published “Management Time; Who’s Got the Monkey”.  You may just relieve some of that back pain you’ve been carrying around.

Good luck!