 "Little book with big wisdom!" | 2009-08-30 |
| - Reviewed By User: A38D3PEVPVQ10 |
| Very interesting take on a great manager. This book is short, to the point and is written like a novel which makes is real easy to read. What I liked about it is its wisdom. It gives you quick but effective lessons on how to treat people that work for you right, how to create the most effective organization through your people and how to free up your own time by delegating and developing experts within your organization. Read it, you won't regret it. I won't recommend buying it though, get it through your local library. |
| |
 "Passionately Hate the Title. Has a Few Truly Great Points That Require Discipline to Stick With" | 2009-08-22 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3NHUQ33CFH3VM |
This is a review of the audio CD version but they've lumped reviews for all versions, hardcover, softcover and audio together. What an incredibly short CD - the running time is 80 minutes. Thankfully I got this used!
I just hate the title because of what it implies, and it was used throughout so repetitively. Listening to the story makes the conversations more ridiculous because you hear the employee characters constantly refer to the good manager as a "one minute manager." The implication, which the book made no attempt to clarify, is that once you "get it," everything will take one minute.
Sure, the actual communications suggested MIGHT take one minute, but not usually. Suppose you go to an employee to reprimand him/her and express yourself succinctly and sincerely as the book recommends. This is good so far, especially if you follow the instruction of the book. But then you'll owe it to the employee to hear them out, and it's hardly ever going to all get done in one minute.
Further, all the background work to get to the point of having a one minute discussion with a direct report employee takes a LOT of time - not one minute. You have to make their duties clear to them and this may involve training and change frequently. Chances are you don't have time to keep updating the employee's written job description in the real world. Right there is a real world compromise that makes the ideas of the book an ideal but you can't always live up to the ideal although you'll do well to try.
You also have to monitor the employee's work so closely as to be able to have a one minute discussion on time, not long after they've carried on doing something the wrong way. Again, in the real world, it's highly unlikely that your job allows you to monitor employees that closely and timely. To have that one minute discussion requires spending a great deal of time doing all the background work to set it up, time your job probably does not provide in sufficient measure to live up to the ideal. Even praising employees, one of the one minute instructions, will be meaningless without a great deal of due diligence to make sure the praise is well-placed.
Nevertheless, the ideas presented by Ken Blanchard are sound and everybody can understand them. A good manager, one motivated to assist employees to move forward in their careers as well as enjoy coming to work, will strive to live up to the ideal. I just hate the title though because it is misleading and unrealistic.
This is a very short work. You can get it used.
|
| |
| "Great for first time managers" | 2009-08-16 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2AJPMZK4FWW04 |
| This book is great for first time managers. The parable style is easy to read and comprehend. I would highly recommend this as part of a management training or development program. I have coached dozens of managers through this book. Those that paid attention found the three simple rules enough to get a higher level of performance and respect from their subordinates. |
| |
 "Very quick read but a bit too basic" | 2009-07-08 |
| - Reviewed By david_kaiser |
| This book is a very fast read and gives and overview to some nice concepts. Managing people is a bit more complicated than the book explains, so I consider this book and intro to see if you enjoy reading management books. If you like this book, then there are many more solid books out there to graduate to. |
| |
| "Short Read, Great jewles of wisdom!" | 2009-06-11 |
| - Reviewed By User: A197OZYBOVZO3A |
| This book is really the cornerstone of so much of what people really do in management to be successful. As managers, we are so busy that it is often impossible to take any time to really learn anything new. But this book stays in my office all the time-- I can pick it up for a little refresher course anytime. A Classic! |
| |
| "Decidedly the most useful book on management I have read" | 2009-06-09 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3SJTKIJ9E568T |
| Most management books deal with the philosophy of management or organizational design. This book deals with how to get people to do what you want them to do, how to deal with it if they don't, and how to deal with good and bad performers to create results. |
| |
Expedited Available
