Describe the Monkey: the dialog must not end until appropriate “next moves” have been identified and specified.
Take a meeting for example. How often did it happen that you attended a meeting where you discussed a topic at length but no next steps where formulated at the end of it. You left not knowing what to do next. Yes, this is why you should always question the next moves and not leave such meetings before they are agreed on.
Assign the monkey: all monkeys shall be owned and handled at the lowest organizational level consistent with their welfare.
The idea is that people down the hierarchy are usually the most knowledgeable and experienced within their field, which is why they should also be the one to own and drive them. This means to come up with the recommendation or the next moves.
Ensure the monkey: every monkey leaving your presence on the back of one of your people must be covered by one of two insurance policies:
In short whenever you “assign” tasks to others there might be the case where your direct reports first need to consult you before they act because its crucial for there to be no mistakes. Or, there might be cases where it is ok for your direct reports to act first, according to their level of confidence, and only advise you later on.
Check on the Monkey: Proper follow-up means healthier monkeys. Every monkey should have a checkup appointment.
This is particularly important if you only assign tasks or if your direct reports are not yet confident in leading and driving whole projects on their own. Thus, to help them make it to the finish line, have regular checkups together. There you might also revisit Rule 3 ‘the insurance’ and obtain recommendations for the next moves. Between checkups, direct reports are fully responsible for their projects (unless we encounter a problem that requires intervention).