Starting to Manage: the essential skills

by Gerard M Blair

published by the IEEE Press.

Many people become managers simply because they are good at the job they were doing - not because they know how to manage. Yet few people are then given training. For these people, the book Starting to Manage provides an outline of the skills which they need to assume their new responsibility.

The skills you need to manage a small team are really common sense, but to develop that common sense you need to examine the problems and to be given some initial ideas about solutions.

Starting to Manage is a how-to guide for people with responsibility for small teams and small projects. To manage a team, you need to be skilled in:

... and that is what this book is about. It deals simply with the range of skills the manager needs to get the job done. Nine chapters focus upon the nine skills above by providing practical ideas and small exercises to show you how to practise these skills at work as you learn them. And the final chapter discusses greatness.

As a manager, you have the power to mould your team and to define your own work environment - this book suggests how.

More information

Reviews of the first edition can be found here.

The book originally began as a series af articles which can be found here.

Ways to contact the author can be found here and his home page is here.

Trainers and lecturers may also be interested in the articles found here.

How to order

The book is published as volume 8 of the IEEE Engineers guide to Business series. This can be ordered from the IEEE with reference number ISBN 0-7803-2295-9 and product number EG108 at a cost of 14.95 dollars for members and 19.95 dollars for non-members. Orders may be placed at: IEEE Customer Service, 445 Hoes Lane, P.O. Box 1331, Piscataway, NJ 08855-1331, USA - Phone: 1(800)701-4333 (toll-free, USA and Canada only) or 1(732)981-0060 - Fax: 1(732)981-9667 - E-mail: customer.service@ieee.org . Full information on ordering from the IEEE can be found here or from the Amazon here.

It is never too early to start

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