Subordinate tax time was first introduced as a notion in the article “Management Time: Who’s Got the Monkey?” published in 1974 by William Oncken, Jr. and Donald L. Wass. In this article we expand on the general theme and try to bring it up to date.

The idea behind subordinate time is that workers tend to hand off all problems to the manager for resolution when they really should be dealing with themselves. The manager will then inform the staff member of what he intends to do about it, and the staff member will wait for the line manager’s actions before taking the next step. At this point, at least in theory, the positions have been reversed. Staff members present issues to the line manager for resolution and the manager reports to staff members on the progress made.

The key as a manager will then be to prevent these so-called “monkeys” from running over your back and restore the natural order of things. The crux of the article is the first conversation between the line manager and the staff member. When told “We have a problem!” The manager should respond, “No, you have a problem. However, I will do my best to educate you on your problem, but at no time will your problem become my problem!”

Things, unfortunately, are not always as simple as that. Many managers seem too eager to handle the problems that their staff should be handling. These types of managers prefer to oversee every little thing and clearly do not trust their employees to get the job done. This type of management is critically flawed because it raises the question “why do you need workers if you intend to do everything yourself?”

There is also the issue of professional development, also known as training. Untrained employees will not be in a position to handle problems. So train them! Again, what’s the point of them being there if they’re not going to be shown how to do things? Employees can and often will hide behind the inability to perform simple tasks as a method of avoiding having to accept responsibility and it is up to the manager to make sure this does not happen.

As long as the manager accepts this philosophy and wants to reduce the time imposed by his subordinates, the next step would be to make sure that the staff members buy into the idea. Different types of employees will respond in different ways. Many will appreciate the freedom and thrive on the new responsibilities, while the rest will find the transition difficult and will try to return those overalls to their manager.

Certain types of employees will try to spend as much time as possible doing as little as possible. It is not simply a case of laziness. They often feel they want a job where they can have as little responsibility as possible, but the responsibilities are there and they will have to fall somewhere. It is the manager’s duty to make sure they accept the responsibilities that are right for them. If they operate in a customer-centric environment, they will have to deal with customer problems (it’s that simple). It is worth noting here that the concept that they only deal with the satisfied customers while the manager deals with the dissatisfied ones is simply not correct.

The key to understanding subordinate time is to understand that employees are paid to solve problems, not pass them on to the manager. He can help and instruct you, but you must not let your problems become your problems.