Managing for Dummies, Second Edition [Paperback]

Bob Nelson (Author), Peter Economy (Author), Ken Blanchard (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 9, 2003

Being a manager can be an intimidating and challenging task. Managing involves teaching new skills to employees, helping land a new customer, accomplishing an important assignment, increasing performance, and much more. The process of management can be very challenging at times, but it can also bring you a sense of fulfillment that you never imagined possible. Organizations rely on managers to make the most out of situations and get the best possible results.

Managing For Dummies, 2nd Edition, is perfect for all levels of managers. This clearly written, easy-to-understand guide will help anyone to

• Hire talented employees
• Master skills such as conflict resolution and coaching
• Initiate change and deal with resistance to change
• Set and communicate your goals
• Motivate employees to go above and beyond expectations

Discover real-life solutions to the most common situations that supervisors and managers face – solutions that stand up over time and can be used during turbulent times. Managing For Dummies, 2nd Edition, also covers the following topics and more:

• Delegating: the Manager’s No. 1 Tool
• Inspiring employees to better performance
• Getting your message across to your employees
• Measuring and monitoring individual and project performance
• Focusing on ethics and office politics
• Team building and collaboration
• Tools and techniques for managers

Managing in today’s lightning-speed business world requires that you have the latest information and techniques for getting the job done. This book provides you with straightforward advice and up-to-the-minute strategies for dealing with anything that comes your way.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a very useful paperback for anyone involved in managing and leading staff...there really is a wide coverage of topics". British Dental Association News August 2008 --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Back Cover

"This is one book I will be delighted to give to those managers I most want to succeed."
-Ken Blanchard, coauthor, The One Minute Manager, from the Foreword

Tips and advice for inspiring your employees to success

Completely revised and updated for managing in the new millennium

Managing For Dummies, 2nd Edition, arms you with the latest information and tried-and-true techniques for managing in today's light-speed business world. You'll find straightforward advice and up-to-the-minute strategies for dealing with anything that comes your way - from ethical questions to performance reviews to team building and collaboration. It's your fast, friendly guide to smart business leadership!

Praise for Managing For Dummies

"Dynamite! The latest information on the best ways to manage."
- Dr. W. Bradley Zehner II, Associate Professor of Strategic Management, Pepperdine University

"Every manager will benefit from the sound advice found in Managing For Dummies, especially the belief that management can and should be fun."
- Felix Mussenden, President and Chief Operating Officer, Universal Studios

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 2 edition (January 9, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764517716
• ISBN-13: 978-0764517716
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #448,856 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Skip the MBA and read this book! Save $40,000, March 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Managing For Dummies® (Paperback)

First, this book is a "fun" read which is unusual for most business books. If you want to know how mananagement thinks and how it works in most corporate environments today - get this book.

The first half is execellent and by the time it's completed you'll know exactly the way your poor boss has been tramautized over the past 10 years with all the new passing management fads. No wonder management is basically skeptical and seems to have a schizophrenic identity crisis.

The second half of the book hangs a bit, maybe the authors ran out of ideas. But the final Index of the 10 essential management books is invaluable. I've already read 3 of the suggestion.

Read this book. Take your boss to lunch, realize how trapped he really is, get a raise, and save $40,000 on your MBA. Just keep reading and reading books like this.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All-in-one book for successful management basics, January 5, 2005

By 

Muhannad Musallam "Good Will Promoter" (Amman, Jordan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Managing for Dummies, Second Edition (Paperback)

After reading this book (first edition), I have found it to contain most of the basic skills a manger needs to develop to be efficient and successful. Because the book has a wide coverage, you won't find in-depth details about each subject, but it is an excellent introduction to management skills, and conveys these skills to you in an enjoyable read, thus saves you the time and effort of figuring out what successful mangers do. This book serves also as a skills refresher (when you are already a seasoned manager) and helps bring you back to the track of success if you start deviating.

The skills covered are:
- Organization, time management, planning
- Delegation
- Leadership
- Hiring, interviewing
- Motivating employees
- Goal setting
- Project management, measuring and monitoring performance
- Performance evaluations/ feedback, disciplining and correction of unwanted behavior
- Presentations
- Business writing
- Meetings management
- Organizational structuring
- Team building and leadership
- Office politics
- Change management
- Stress management
- Employee development and training, career path setting, mentoring
- Budgeting and accounting
- Business processes optimization / reengineering
- Information technology
- Organizational culture / behavior
- TQM (Total Quality Management) / Deming Method / continuous improvements
- Systems thinking
- Creation of a learning environment
- Innovation support

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great introduction for beginnners, reminder for experienced, February 16, 2001

By 

"renee111" (Columbus, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Managing For Dummies® (Paperback)

This book is a must for all beginners moving into the world of management, and I highly recommend it as a refresher course for those of us who have been doing it for a while. I do not have an MBA, but I do have a number of years' real-world experience in management, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is very light and easy to read, and although much of it seems like it should be common sense, there are a number of things that are easy to forget, and it's worth the refresher. I skipped some chapters because they were too basic, but I probably read 2/3 of the book (in the matter of a business trip) and actually did learn some new information.