One of the biggest challenges a person faces in his/her career is becoming a manager. Not only must a manager lead, they must motivate, organize and innovate. It can include reading financial statements, organizing teams, resolving disputes and understanding the overall organizational culture of a company. Macmillan Teach Yourself Management Skills in 24 Hours offers new managers a well-organized, structured approach to self-training. Covering everything from negotiation and project management to interviewing techniques and performance appraisals, this title offers 24 straightforward chapters, each of which can be read and studied in about an hour.

Table of Contents:
Introduction. I. AN INTRODUCTION TO MANAGEMENT. Hour 1. What Is Management? Learning the New Rules of the Game. Defining Effective Management. Understanding Effective vs. Efficient. The Changing Role of Management. Studying the Functions of Management. Putting It Together. Analyzing Your Skills. Making the Transition to Management. Hour's Up! Hour 2. Management in the New Workplace. Management's Environment. Trends Impacting Management. Changing Expectations. Organizational Learning. Competencies for Management Today. Hour's Up! Hour 3. The Global Environment. Working in a Global Economy. Identifying the Impact on Management. Understanding Culture Avoiding Cultural Blunders. Learning in a Global Environment. Doing Business Internationally: Some Management Tips. Hour's Up! Hour 4. Managerial Decision-Making. The Rational Decision-Making Model. How to Make High-Quality Decisions. The Bounded Rationality Model of Decision-Making. Types of Decisions. Tools for Decision-Makers. Escalation: A Special Problem in Decision-Making. Creativity and Innovation. Blocks to Creative Problem-Solving. How to Encourage Creativity. The Characteristics of Creative Organizations. Successful Decision-Makers. Hour's Up! II. GETTING STARTED ON THE BASICS OF MANAGEMENT. Hour 5. Financials. Financial Statements. Basic Organizational Forms. Financial Ratios. Budgeting. Open-Book Management. Hour's Up! Hour 6. Project Management. Phases for Projects. Phase I: Planning. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). Resource Requirements. Why Plans Fail. Phase II: Scheduling. Phase III: Controlling. The People Involved. Closure for the Project. Hour's Up! Hour 7. The Basics of Process Development. Quality. Productivity. Continuous Process Improvement Process Reengineering. Job Design. Design Choices. Change. Hour's Up! Hour 8. Relationship Management. Perception. Trust in Every Relationship. Stakeholders. Customers. Independent Contractors, Outsourcing, and Alternative Workers. Managing Your Boss. Developing Subordinates. The Marginal Employee. Tips for All Relationships. Hour's Up! Hour 9. Managing Conflict. Identifying Conflict in Organizations. Conflict Management: Getting to Win-Win. Being Successful in Conflict Management. Hour's Up! III. MANAGING PEOPLE EFFECTIVELY. Hour 10. Managing People. Workplace Diversity. The Benefits of a Diverse Workforce. How to Manage Diversity. Diversity Training. People with Disabilities. A Special Challenge: Sexual Harassment. How to Avoid Managing Ineffectively. Hour's Up! Hour 11. Motivation. Learning from Motivation Theories. Using Goal Setting to Increase Individual Motivation and Performance. Determining the Role of Money in Motivating. Hour's Up! Hour 12. Managing Performance. Reviewing the Performance Appraisal. Reinforcing Employee Behavior. Rewarding Employees. Hour's Up! Hour 13. Career Development: Your Responsibility. Career Development Today. Benefits to the Organization. Traditional Stages of Career Development. Contemporary Approaches. Alternative Career Tracks. Steps to Effective Career Management. Management Development. Signs of Trouble in Your Career. Tips to Effectively Manage Your Career. Hour's Up! Hour 14. Groups. Advantages to Groups. Disadvantages of Groups. Stages of Group Development. Types of Groups (Formal vs. Informal). Norms. Group Decision-Making. The Role of Technology. A Special Challenge: Groupthink. Hour's Up! Hour 15. Teamwork. Distinguishing Between Groups and Teams. Understanding Teams Today. Recognizing Characteristics of High-Performance Teams. Understanding Team Building. Creative Teams. Managing Teams. Addressing Special Human Resource Problems in Teams. Hour's Up! IV. BUSINESS AS AN ORGANIZATION. Hour 16. Organizational and Structural Design. Defining Organizational Design. Understanding What Influences Design. Making Structural Decisions. Managing in Different Structures. Hour's Up! Hour 17. Organizational Culture. What Is Culture? Internal Integration and External Adaptation. Culture and Performance. Strong Organizational Cultures. Aspects of Culture. A Typology of Culture. Your Role in Building and Reinforcing Cultures. When Two Cultures Merge. Hour's Up! Hour 18. Organizational Politics and Power. Power and Influence. The Bases of Power. How to Build a Power Base. A Paradigm Shift: Empowerment of the Workforce. How to Manage Upward Influence. Organizational Politics. Political Alliances. General Tips to Politics. Hour's Up! Hour 19. The New Leadership. The Roles of Leadership and Management. The Leadership Research: How We Got to This Point Contemporary Views of Leadership. Transactional Leadership. Transformational Leadership. Charismatic Leadership. The Flip Side of Leadership: Followership. How to Lead Self-Managed Teams. Hour's Up! Hour 20. Organizational Communication. The Communication Process. Barriers to Communication. Nonverbal Communication. Active Listening. Directions of Organizational Communication Flow. The Role of Technology in Communication Today. Hour's Up! V. SPECIAL MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES. Hour 21. Stress. What Is Stress? Stressors. Individual Consequences of Stress. Personality: Type A and Type B. Organizational Consequences of Stress. Stress Management. How to Recognize Stress in Others. Tips for Effective Managers. Hour's Up! Hour 22. Facilitating Meetings. Different Types of Meetings. Premeeting Planning. The Meeting Itself. The Minutes. Postmeeting Planning. Your Role as Facilitator. Special Challenges: Managing Individuals Who Inhibit Meeting Success. Hour's Up! Hour 23. Interviewing. The Recruitment Process. The Selection Process. The Effective Interview. Potentially Dangerous Questions. Tips for Conducting the Effective Interview. Hour's Up! Hour 24. Gaining an Edge: Business Etiquette. Why Business Etiquette Is Once Again Important. Business Basics. Meeting Etiquette. Business Gifts. Business Correspondence. Netiquette. General Etiquette Do's and Don'ts. Creating a Positive Image. A Parting Tip to Better Manners: Gossip. Hour's Up! Appendix A. Twenty-Minute Recap. Appendix B. Glossary and Recommended Readings. Appendix C. Answers to Hour's Up Quizzes. Index.