Mind Tools for Managers

Mind Tools for Managers

by James Manktelow, Julian Birkinshaw
Released April 2018
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9781119374473

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Book description

The manager's must-have guide to excelling in all aspects of the job

Mind Tools for Managers helps new and experienced leaders develop the skills they need to be more effective in everything they do. It brings together the 100 most important leadership skills—as voted for by 15,000 managers and professionals worldwide—into a single volume, providing an easy-access solutions manual for people wanting to be the best manager they can be. Each chapter details a related group of skills, providing links to additional resources as needed, plus the tools you need to put ideas into practice. Read beginning-to-end, this guide provides a crash course on the essential skills of any effective manager; used as a reference, its clear organization allows you to find the solution you need quickly and easily.

Success in a leadership position comes from results, and results come from the effective coordination of often competing needs: your organization, your client, your team, and your projects. These all demand time, attention, and energy, and keeping everything running smoothly while making the important decisions is a lot to handle. This book shows you how to manage it all, and manage it well, with practical wisdom and expert guidance.

  • Build your ideal team and keep them motivated
  • Make better decisions and boost your strategy game
  • Manage both time and stress to get more done with less
  • Master effective communication, facilitate innovation, and much more

Managers wear many hats and often operate under a tremendously diverse set of job duties. Delegation, prioritization, strategy, decision making, communication, problem solving, creativity, time management, project management and stress management are all part of your domain. Mind Tools for Managers helps you take control and get the best out of your team, your time, and yourself.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Acknowledgments
  4. Author Biographies
  5. Introduction
    1. Helping People Be Better Bosses
    2. Why This Book Is Different
    3. The Structure of the Book
    4. Cross-Cutting Themes
  6. Part I: Know and Manage Yourself
    1. Chapter 1: Know Yourself
      1. 1. Understand Your Own Personality and Manage Accordingly (The Big Five Personality Model)
      2. 2. Understand and Make Better Use of Your Personal Strengths (Personal SWOT Analysis)
      3. 3. Set Clear Personal Goals, and Show a Strong Sense of Direction (Personal Goal Setting)
      4. 4. Build Your Self-Confidence
      5. 5. Be Aware of How Your Actions Impact Others (Journaling for Self-Development)
      6. 6. Think Positively and Manage Negative Thoughts (Cognitive Restructuring)
      7. 7. Adopt a Self-Development Mindset (Dweck's Fixed and Growth Mindsets)
      8. Other Techniques for Knowing Yourself
    2. Chapter 2: Plan and Manage Your Time
      1. 8. Find More Time in Your Day by Eliminating Low-Yield Activities (Activity Logs)
      2. 9. Prioritize Tasks Effectively for Yourself and Your Team (Action Priority Matrix)
      3. 10. Use a Structured Approach for Tracking and Prioritizing Many Tasks (Action Programs)
      4. 11. Schedule Your Time Effectively
      5. 12. Keep Yourself Focused: Managing Distractions, Improving Flow
      6. 13. Beat Procrastination
      7. Other Techniques for Planning and Managing Your Time
    3. Chapter 3: Cope with Change and Stress
      1. 14. Develop Personal Resiliency, and Grow from Setbacks
      2. 15. Analyze and Manage Sources of Stress (Stress Diaries)
      3. 16. Manage Negative Emotions at Work (The STOP Method for Anger Management)
      4. 17. Manage the Impact of Pressure on Performance (The Inverted-U Model)
      5. 18. Overcome Fears of Failure or Success
      6. 19. Learn from Your Experience in a Systematic Way (Gibbs's Reflective Cycle)
      7. Other Techniques for Coping with Change and Stress
    4. Chapter 4: Manage Your Career over Time
      1. 20. Find a Career That Suits Who You Are (Ibarra's Identify Transition Process)
      2. 21. Find a Role That Provides Meaning and Pleasure and Fully Uses Your Strengths (The MPS Process)
      3. 22. Shape Your Role to Suit Your Strengths and Aspirations (Job Crafting)
      4. 23. Thrive at Work (The GREAT DREAM Model)
      5. 24. Find the Work–Life Balance That's Best for You (The Wheel of Life®)
      6. 25. Understand the Types of Behavior That Can Derail Your Career (Hogan Management Derailment)
      7. Other Techniques for Managing Your Career
  7. Part II: Manage Tasks, and Get Things Done
    1. Chapter 5: Get Work Done in an Efficient and Focused Way
      1. 26. Translate the Organization's Mission into Goals That People Understand (OGSM)
      2. 27. Align People's Objectives with Corporate Goals (OKRs)
      3. 28. Systematically Analyze and Optimize the Work Team Members Do (DILO)
      4. 29. Use a Structured Approach to Continuous Improvement (PDSA)
      5. 30. Systematically Identify What Needs to Be Done – Gap Analysis
      6. 31. Conduct Post-Completion Project Reviews (Retrospectives)
      7. 32. Manage Projects Using Agile Methodologies (Agile Project Management)
    2. Chapter 6: Solve Problems Effectively
      1. 33. Get Systematically to the Root of a Problem (Root Cause Analysis)
      2. 34. Identify the Many Possible Causes of a Problem (Cause and Effect Analysis)
      3. 35. Map Business Processes Clearly (Swim Lane Diagrams)
      4. 36. Solve Problems by Capitalizing on What's Going Well (The 5-D Approach to Appreciative Inquiry)
      5. 37. Bring People Together to Solve Problems (Manage Group Dynamics)
      6. Other Useful Problem-Solving Techniques
    3. Chapter 7: Make Smart Decisions
      1. 38. Decide Whether a Decision Makes Financial Sense (Net Present Value Analysis)
      2. 39. Choose Between Options and Considering Multiple Factors (Decision Matrix Analysis)
      3. 40. Consider Many Factors, Such as Opportunities, Risks, Reactions, and Ethics in Decision Making (ORAPAPA)
      4. 41. Analyze Systematically What Could Go Wrong (Risk Analysis and Risk Management)
      5. 42. Prioritize Risks by Impact and Probability of Occurrence (The Risk Impact/Probability Chart)
      6. 43. Avoid Psychological Bias in Decision Making
      7. Other Useful Decision-Making Techniques
    4. Chapter 8: Foster Creativity and Innovation
      1. 44. Develop New Ideas by Understanding User Needs (Design Thinking)
      2. 45. Innovate by Studying People's Day-to-Day Use of Products and Services in Depth (Ethnographic Research)
      3. 46. Innovate by Making Sense of How the Business World Is Changing (Scenario Planning)
      4. 47. Innovate in All Areas of Your Business, Not Just with Products and Services (Doblin's 10 Types of Innovation)
      5. 48. Generate Many Ideas Using Free Association (Brainstorming)
      6. Other Techniques for Fostering Creativity and Innovation
  8. Part III: Work with and Manage Other People
    1. Chapter 9: Understand and Motivate Other People
      1. 49. Lead by Example (Being a Good Role Model)
      2. 50. Listen Carefully and Intensely to Other People (Mindful Listening)
      3. 51. Understand How to Motivate People (Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory)
      4. 52. Work Effectively with People from Different Generations (Understand Different Generational Characteristics)
      5. 53. Develop Emotional Intelligence
      6. 54. Motivate People to Go above and beyond (Transformational Leadership)
      7. Other Techniques for Understanding and Motivating Other People
    2. Chapter 10: Get the Best from Members of Your Team
      1. 55. Delegate Effectively
      2. 56. Be Clear About Who Is Accountable for What (The RACI Matrix)
      3. 57. Give Effective Praise and Recognition
      4. 58. Build Team Members' Self-Confidence
      5. 59. Support Your People Effectively (Heron's Six Categories of Intervention)
      6. Other Ways to Get the Best from Members of Your Team
    3. Chapter 11: Communicate Effectively
      1. 60. Understand the Key Principles of Good Communication (The Seven Cs of Communication)
      2. 61. Speak Well in Public
      3. 62. Write Effective E-Mails
      4. 63. Build Good Working Relationships with People at All Levels (Create “High-Quality Connections”)
      5. 64. Communicate Effectively Across Cultures (Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions)
      6. Other Techniques for Communicating Effectively
    4. Chapter 12: Hire and Develop Good People
      1. 65. Design Jobs Effectively (Motivation-Centered Job Descriptions)
      2. 66. Recruit Effectively (Competency-Based Interviewing)
      3. 67. Assess Individual Development Needs (Skills Matrices)
      4. 68. Give Effective Feedback (The SBI Feedback Model)
      5. 69. Coach People Effectively (The GROW Model)
    5. Chapter 13: Build a Great Team
      1. 70. Formally Define the Team's Mission, Authority, Resources, and Boundaries (Team Charters)
      2. 71. Brief Your Team Clearly
      3. 72. Build Trust in Your Team
      4. 73. Build Openness and Self-Knowledge within a Team (The Johari Window)
      5. 74. Find the Specific Motivators That Work Best with Your Team (Understand Team-Specific Motivation)
      6. 75. Manage Negative Behaviors and Resolve Conflict (Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions of a Team)
    6. Chapter 14: Deal with Difficult Management Situations Effectively
      1. 76. Resolve Conflict Effectively (Fisher and Ury's Principled Negotiation)
      2. 77. Deal with Bad Behavior at Work
      3. 78. Deal with Office Politics, and Protect Your Team from Them
      4. 79. Handle Poor Performance
      5. 80. Be Tactful
  9. Part IV: General Commercial Awareness
    1. Chapter 15: Develop Situational Awareness
      1. 81. Understand Your Organization's Mission and Values (Mission Statements)
      2. 82. Scan for External Changes That May Impact Your Organization (PESTLIED Analysis)
      3. 83. Understand How Companies Compete in Your Market (Value Curves)
      4. 84. Understand Your Organization's Core Competencies
      5. 85. Organizational Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT Analysis)
    2. Chapter 16: Get Ahead in the Wider Organization
      1. 86. Understand and Shape How Others in Your Organization See You (The PVI Model)
      2. 87. Ask for Feedback (The SKS Technique)
      3. 88. Build Honest Rapport with Others
      4. 89. Develop Effective Networking Skills
      5. 90. Influence Your Peers to Get Things Done (Yukl and Tracey's Influencers)
    3. Chapter 17: Make Change Happen in Your Organization
      1. 91. Understand Stakeholder Needs, and Bring Stakeholders Along with You (Stakeholder Management and Power/Interest Grids)
      2. 92. Understand the Key Steps Needed to Succeed with a Change Process (Kotter's Eight-Step Change Model)
      3. 93. Anticipate and Manage People's Emotional Reactions to Change (The Change Curve)
      4. 94. Persuade and Influence People Effectively (The Influence Model)
      5. 95. Lead Change Without Formal Authority (“Stealth Innovation”)
    4. Chapter 18: Work Effectively with Customers and External Stakeholders
      1. 96. Understand Your Customer's Worldview (Develop Customer Personas)
      2. 97. Understand and Develop Your Relationship with Your Customer (Customer Experience Mapping)
      3. 98. Understand How Decisions Are Made in Another Organization (Influence Mapping)
      4. 99. Decide the Best Approach to a Negotiation (Lewicki and Hiam's Negotiation Matrix)
      5. 100. Collaborate to Create Mutually Beneficial Outcomes (Win-Win Negotiation)
  10. Appendix: Survey Methodology
  11. References
  12. Index
  13. End User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: Mind Tools for Managers
  • Author(s): James Manktelow, Julian Birkinshaw
  • Release date: April 2018
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9781119374473