If you're in charge of putting together or overseeing a work team, but you can't bring yourself to crack those gazillion-pound guides or weighty workbooks that you've been handed to help you, you'll love this nifty palm-size companion to every aspect of leading the crew. Here, you'll learn not only what makes a good team and how to balance individual skills within a team, but also how to set the whole thing up (from setting goals and establishing trust to creating a self-managed team, or taking on an existing one), improve its efficiency (by facilitating improved communication, running meetings, improving team standards, and getting everyone to deal with problems and think creatively), and ensure team success in the future through measuring team performance and tracking its progress, setting and meeting targets, rewarding good work, and adapting to change. On every snazzy little page, boxed tips, handy checklists, mini case studies, and easy-to-follow flow charts bring the whole team-leading process to life--from inception to long-term operation and planning. Granted, if you're looking for very specific or in-depth guidance, you might find this book too cursory and general in its approach. But, if you're looking for a thumbnail guide to the basics, it'll do just fine.

It's worth mentioning that the book is part of the "Essential Managers" series by reference publisher Dorling-Kindersley--a series comprising 20 itty-bitty books on business and career topics that range from communication, leadership, and decision-making to the management of time, budgets, change, meetings, people, projects, and teams. Combining the talent of the "For Dummies" book series for breaking down a lot of information into bite-sized bits and sidebars with Dorling-Kindersley's signature design style of crisp, classy graphics on a gleaming white backdrop, the books don't represent the cutting edge of business thinking or reflect necessarily any unique individual perspective. Instead, it's as if someone had collated the best general thinking on these 20 topics, and rolled them out into 72 brightly designed and easy-to-read pages--studded along the way with boxed tips, color shots of a multiracial cast of "coworkers" animatedly hashing through the workplace issues of the day, and, on the last few pages of each volume, a self-test of one's skills in the topic at hand. Again, they're not for anyone who's looking for more in-depth or focused help on any of the covered subjects, but they're perfect as a quick general-interest reference; and, let's face it, they're so damn cute, and look so smart in a neat little stack or row, that probably you'll want to buy a whole bunch to give as gifts to your entire staff or department. --Timothy Murphy


Book Description
Motivate and direct your business team to exceed expectations with this indispensable book. Learn all you need to know about successful team management, from building up a team that functions effectively to achieving the desired results. Managing Teams shows you how to establish a productive environment and exploit group dynamics, and it also provides practical techniques to try in different settings. Power tips help you handle real-life situations and develop the first-class team-management skills that are the key to a productive and informed workplace. The Essential Manager have sold more than 1.9 million copies worldwide! Experienced and novice managers alike can benefit from these compact guides that slip easily into a briefcase or a portfolio. The topics are relevant to every work environment, from large corporations to small businesses. Concise treatments of dozens of business techniques, skills, methods, and problems are presented with hundreds of photos, charts, and diagrams. It is the most exciting and accessible approach to business and self-improvement available.


About the Author
Robert Heller is a leading authority on management consulting. He was the founding editor of Management Today, and as editorial director of Haymarket Publishing Group, he supervised the launch of a number of highly successful magazines including Campaign and Computing. He is founder of the Working Words, a consulting firm specializing in business communications. He has been a contributor experienced and novice managers alike will be relevant to every work environment, from large corporations to small businesses.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Motivate and direct your business team to exceed expectations with this indispensable book.

Learn all you need to know about successful team management, from building up a team that functions effectively to achieving the desired results. Managing Teams shows you how to establish a productive environment and exploit group dynamics, and it also provides practical techniques to try in different settings. Power tips help you handle real-life situations and develop the first-class team-management skills that are the key to a productive and informed workplace.

The Essential Manager have sold more than 1.9 million copies worldwide! Experienced and novice managers alike can benefit from these compact guides that slip easily into a briefcase or a portfolio. The topics are relevant to every work environment, from large corporations to small businesses. Concise treatments of dozens of business techniques, skills, methods, and problems are presented with hundreds of photos, charts, and diagrams. It is the most exciting and accessible approach to business and self-improvement available.

Author Biography: Robert Heller is a leading authority in the world of management consulting and was the founding editor of Britain's top management magazine, Management Today. He is much in demand as a conference speaker in Europe, North and South America, and the Far East. As editorial director of Haymarket Publishing Group, Robert Heller supervised the launch of several highly successful magazines such as Campaign, Computing, and Accountancy Age. His many acclaimed-and worldwide best-selling-books include The Naked Manager, Culture Shock, The Age of the Common Millionaire, The Way to Win (with Will Carling), The Complete Guide to Modern Management, and In Search of European Excellence.