Customer Reviews

The First-Time Manager

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Many rookie managers feel like imposters until they grow into their jobs, but if you are scaling that learning curve, help has arrived. Authors Loren B. Belker and Gary S. Topchik provide managerial coaching for new occupants of corner offices (or, at least, of cubes with windows). The text provides novice managers with concrete examples, solid discussions, helpful suggestions and insights on a wide menu of corporate challenges. Although the book is redundant in spots, and needs more extensive chapter summaries, it is a terrific tutorial for managers. We recommend this book to everyone in managerial slots, especially those who just arrived.

This is a "common sense" approach to management. There is nothing wrong with that approach but if you need more information such as how to motivate employees or deal with difficult people, you will not find the information here. I am in search of a book with more details.

This book covers the A-Z of managment for the first time manager, as well as the more experienced. The author consentrates on getting your mind into the correct thaught pattern to get the absolute most out of your staff in virtually any industry. Easy to read and can also be used as a quick reference guide. I'd also recommend it to empolyees who would like a promotion but don't know what they need to do to be managment material.

This is a fantastic read for the first time manager. No matter what industry you are in, this is the book on how to manage people. You will learn management types and avoid mistakes first time managers make. This is comprehensive book that will show you how to interview job applicants, discipline staff based on their existing work ethics (lifelong slacker, vs. occasional slip up) and how to keep imporving oneself as a manager too because like everythign in life, that is work in progress...
I have read the fifth edition of this book and it is a true gem.

This is an excellent, easy-to-read guide to success in management. Belker provides tips to managing diverse types of people (lazy, motivated, nit-pickers, etc), hiring, firing, performance reviews, time management, public speaking, and many other issues related to successful performance as a manager. I recommend this book for any new manager or anyone interested in pursuing a career in management.

I recently moved to a new company and was offered a great oppertunity as Manager Of Guest Services. It was a well needed challenge as well as a fresh start from my previouse Supervisor roll.

With that fresh start I wanted some words of wisdom and a some practical skills that I could apply easily to my new workplace.

This book did just that. It was a perfecet balance of theory and practical advice that is easy to apply. It was a quick read and is set up as a quick refrence guide.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who is moving into management or has recently been promoted into a management
position.

I have the big picture in clear view now!

As someone aspiring to the management level, this book was instrumental in preparing me for my interview. It provides a wealth of information that is crucial to the new manager. This book should be mandatory for new managers and used as a refresher for the experienced. Now, I use this book daily as a reference tool.

A great book for the first time manager. I found it to be a fast read filled with common sense advise and examples, not meaningless or unrealistic details or excercises. Useful and relevant from the first chapters to the end. Helped me a great deal.

First published in 1981 and written by Loren B. Belker, the current (5th) edition has been updated by Gary S. Topchik in 2005

I very much like the style in which the book is written - easy and conversational. I also like the complete absence of "management speak" which is such a rarity in many modern management books. The book is also written in a very positive tone - looking to help the manager to motivate, develop and get the best out of people rather than controlling them.

However, this book is an enigma. It has some great management truths, ideas and concepts that have stood the test of time, yet it falls down in how some of these can best be implemented. Three that I found difficulty with were the chapters on Recruitment, Managing Change and Performance Appraisals.

For example, in the chapter on Recruitment, the authors suggest that the most important point to keep in mind when recruiting someone, is to make sure they have the right attitude. Most people would agree with this, yet the three questions they suggest to use to test for "attitude", i.e.

- What did you like most about your last job?
- What did you like least about your last job?
- How do you feel about your last manager?

do not measure attitude. Unfortunately, neither do these type of question assess a person's ability to do the job for which they are applying. The authors do give examples of "right" and "wrong" answers which I found, particularly in the case of the "wrong" answers to be over simplistic and unlikely to be given by many applicants.

In some chapters there were also sample "speeches" (or "talks" as the authors call them) for various events such as when the new employee starts, the "Attitude Talk" or the "Improvement Seed" for discussing a person's poor performance. In any book this is a difficult concept to describe and get across. I think the authors could have improved these sample talks by giving more detail on their purpose, the key points to include (or avoid) and how to follow up these talks.

This book is a light read and may be a useful primer for a very new and inexperienced manager. However, it should be augmented with books that are just as practical, have more depth and have more "how to's" which are essential for people just starting out in management.

Bob Selden, author
What To Do When You Become The Boss: How new managers become successful managers

As someone who has recently been promoted, I needed a book that laid out a framework for how to approach my new role. Fortunately, "The First Time Manager" fit the bill.

If you are looking for specific details, ie, a step by step guide to dealing with an problematic employee, then this is not what you need. But if you are trying to get a grasp of some of the concepts to think about when having to deal with an employee who has issues, then this is a perfect read for you.

Loren B. Belker and Gary S. Topchik cover the everything that could possibly be pertinant for a new manager. From your first chance to manage people, how to praise them (often when it is deserved), how to address issues with them (in private), from interviewing new candidates, to firing someone. It's all there. One of the areas that was particularly useful for me was the whole notion of doing a job description and doing performance appraisals.

Of equal importance, and something I think many management books that I have seen have failed to address, is actually improving yourself, the manager. The authors spend some time on how to be better for your employees, from using humor, to learning to delegate, and the big one many fear, public speaking.

As I have said, this may not be for everyone. Some people require detailed roadmaps for how to be successful at some things. If that's your need, look elsewhere as the First Time Manager won't provide that. But if you are like me, and only wanted a some general pointers covering everything that may impact my new role, this was a great place to start.

Easy to read covering just about everything a new manager may face, I highly recommend.