The One Minute Manager by Kenneth Blanchard & Spencer Johnson
Book Review by Isaac Peter
Date of Review: 4th March 2008

The author Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson are renowned and widely respected business consultant. Their basis for this book is the belief that all of us desire to achieve our maximum potential and even surpass it. It is in our DNA.

After working for several years, we somewhat get disillusioned that time management simply does not work; instead we become ‘reactive’ workers. For those of us in the executive and management role, it seems that our schedule is filled with meetings after meeting with no time for us to accomplish our work within the given time.

Fret not! The One Minute Manager is an interesting and easy read that shed some revelation on the topic of self management. Rather than focusing on how to make our meeting more effective and efficient, the focus is more on our perception of others and how this allows us to free up more time to get our work done. The 3 principles outlined are simple, timeless and yet effective.

The three principles are:

The One Minute Goal Setting outlines the need to place the employee on the same page with the management of the clear goal he or she has to achieve and discuss the possible approach in a coaching manner.

The One Minute Praising outlines the need for giving compliments and affirming employees as they move in the right direction. This does not mean the employee has got it already; rather he or she is complimented upon moving in the right direction or getting it somewhat correct. This principle is heavily practiced at the initial stage so as to give the employee the confidence and also let them know the ‘approach’ the organization appreciates.

The One Minute Reprimand, unlike the one minute praising is to address the unacceptable behaviour. It is crucial at this stage to reinforce that you are reprimanding the behaviour, not the person and his or her personality. Too many a times we associate behaviour to the personality and this diminishes the worth of one which in the long term causes the employee to be over reliant on the supervisor for constant guidance.

The following example will demonstrate the use of the above principles.

Adam has just joined an organization as an executive. After going through the organization’s familiarization program he was assigned a task by his supervisor, Steve. Prior to working on the task, Steve sat him down and explained the desired results as well as the expectations of him rather than telling him what needs to be done. Adam would then write each goal on a single A4 sheet and outline them later on his own timing. Each goal should be about a minute long in reading. Once both are clear on the task, Steve would leave him on his own and Adam will only go back to him if there is something unclear in terms of the expectation, not the action.

Since they are both new to each other, Steve requested, for a start that Adam gives him a weekly report of what he has been doing. Upon noticing that Adam is in the right direction in terms of the action he has carried out, Steve would consciously lookout for Adam and spends about a minute complimenting him for either being on the right track or getting it somewhat correct. Adam, upon being complimented and feeling good, have a sense of accomplishment which would further motivate him to get it done precisely correct. This would snowball over time and allows Adam to identify his right action and allows him to be an independent employee. As time goes by, Steve would only need to praise Adam for major achievement as Adam would be able to affirm himself for the smaller actions.

In the situation where Adam’s action is wrong or undesirable, in reprimanding, Steve would state the unacceptable behaviour, state how this behaviour makes him feel and reassure Adam that he is confident that Adam can do a much better job and this is only a hiccup.

As time goes by, the contact (and guiding) time between Adam and Steve becomes less and the level of ownership on Adam’s end grows exponentially. Apart from having more time to oneself, the one minute manager produces highly functional employees thus reducing lots of waiting time.

From the example, it does take time to get used to the One Minute Manager approach and there is bound to be mistakes along the way and at times you may find it awkward because it is not something we do naturally. But rest assured that once you master it, it would go a long way in making your work and life more fulfilling.

The below flow chart was created to summarize the entire process and for ease of understanding for process minded people. Enjoy…

The One Minute Manager Process Flow Chart