Series: 20-Minute Manager

A well-crafted business plan generates enthusiasm for your idea and boosts your odds of success—whether you're proposing a new initiative within your organisation or starting an entirely new company. Creating Business Plans quickly walks you through the basics. You'll learn to: Present your idea clearly Develop sound financial plans Project risks—and rewards Anticipate and address your audience's concerns Don't have...

Whether you've been putting off giving an employee negative feedback or wondering how to react when a co-worker erupts in frustration during a meeting, difficult conversations in the workplace are, well, difficult. While there's no one "right" way to have a difficult conversation, there are guiding principles you can follow and strategies you can employ to facilitate a discussion in...

There's always more work to be done. How do you make sure you'll finish your most important tasks and make progress in your key projects by the end of the day? Getting Work Done (HBR 20-Minute Manager Series) runs you through the basics of prioritising your work, staying focused, delegating tasks, and using technology to help you get more done....

Whether you're struggling with a problem employee or want to reward a high performer on your team, you need to be able to share feedback that's easy to understand and act on. Giving Effective Feedback provides the basic guidelines to help you help your team excel. About HBR's 20-Minute Manager Series: Don't have much time? Get up to speed fast...

A curated collection of the business basics to fuel your success. You'll get up to speed fast on the most essential business skills with this set of concise, practical primers. Finance Basics explains the fundamentals of corporate finance—and its jargon. Running Meetings gives you the tools and checklists you need to keep your meetings effective and efficient. Presentations helps you...

Don't leave creativity up to the creatives in your organisation. Fostering creativity within your team can help your organisation solve problems, create innovative products, break out into a new market, and even communicate and collaborate more effectively. Innovative Teams shows you how to: Create the right environment for inventive thinking Build a diverse team Generate a wide array of new...

Manage your team from anywhere. Leading any team involves managing people, technical oversight, and project administration, but leaders of virtual teams perform these functions from afar. Leading Virtual Teams walks you through the basics of: Connecting your people to each other—and to the team's mission Surmounting language, distance, and technology barriers Identifying and using the right communication channels Don't have...

You've been asked to manage a key project. Its success could propel your career, but before you take the reins, you want a brief overview of what's expected of you. Managing Projects walks you through the basics from start to finish, highlighting proven techniques for: Drawing up your plan Allocating resources Motivating your team Communicating with stakeholders Closing out the...

Boost your productivity with these essential tips. About HBR's 20-Minute Manager Series: Don't have much time? Get up to speed fast on the most essential business skills with HBR's 20-Minute Manager series. Whether you need a crash course or a brief refresher, each book in the series is a concise, practical primer that will help you brush up on a...

Intimidated by corporate finance? The numbers—and the jargon—can feel overwhelming. But you need to grasp the fundamentals to manage effectively, and Finance Basics will help. Here, you'll get a brief overview of: Which key financial concepts you must understand How to navigate balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements What's involved in budgeting and forecasting How to gauge the...

Whether you're starting out in your career or just want a refresher on the fundamentals, the HBR Essential 20-Minute Manager Collection gives you a hand-picked selection of concise, practical primers on the professional skills you need to master most. This specially priced five-volume set includes: Getting Work Done Managing Time Presentations Running Meetings Difficult Conversations You'll learn how to: Prioritise...

You know you need to delegate some of your work so that you have time to focus on the things that require your expertise. But it's not easy to do. Delegating Work quickly walks you through the fundamentals of: Establishing a productive environment Assigning the right work to the right people Conducting an effective hand-off meeting Monitoring without micromanaging Don't...

Whether you're sweating over a last-minute speech or simply trying to sharpen your skills without investing a lot of time, Presentations provides expert tips you can immediately put to use. You'll get a brief overview of fundamentals like: Crafting your message Preparing and rehearsing Engaging your audience Managing the Q&A About the series: Get up to speed fast on essential...

Whether you're new to running meetings or a seasoned executive with no time to waste, leading effective (and even pleasant!) meetings is a must. Running Meetings guides you through the basics of: Crafting a useful agenda Inviting the right team members Making sure everyone's voice is heard while avoiding conflict Capturing decisions, ideas, and follow-up tasks Don't have much time?...

Conducting a performance review can be a stressful task for any manager. However, these formal conversations are an important way to communicate how a direct report is performing relative to their goals. Performance Reviews provides practical advice on how to: Evaluate an employee's performance Establish the right tone for the discussion Address a performance problem Set challenging yet realistic goals...

When your boss looks good, so do you. But how do you navigate this sensitive professional relationship without playing political games or sacrificing your identity? Managing Up offers concise, expert tips on: Aligning your goals with your boss's Managing expectations—and egos Using language your manager understands Earning trust and becoming indispensable

Whether you're hosting a conference call or running a WebEx meeting, virtual meetings are ripe for problems. Poor call quality, people forgetting to mute, people staying muted rather than participating—the list of things that can and do go wrong is endless. But you can prepare and lead an effective meeting from afar. This book will quickly bring you up to...