The Manager's Resource Handbook
Tools, Resources and Guides for Managers and Business Leaders. Real Advice from Real Bosses.
How Operating Procedures Can Reduce Competitive Advantage Every business wants financial growth that is stable, predictable and comes with minimal risk. This desire, though, goes against the age-old adage that says the higher one’s risk, the greater the potential reward. Ultimately, every business must strike balance on a sliding scale between the profit reward it seeks and the risk it is will willing
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Create Slides That Manage Your Message Every organization holds periodic management reviews of current programs, projects and initiatives. We have all experienced them: we share the current financial outlook of a project compared to the initial plan, we identify any changes in strategic direction, and we highlight to the executives any new challenges that have emerged. Of course, the overall intent of such internal reviews
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Settling In as a First-Time Boss For some new managers, the idea of giving performance reviews and being responsible for others can be intimidating. For others, there are questions concerning how they manage people older than them, or fears of being accepted by their new team. Though I’ve been managing teams for nearly two decades, I too, had these fears. Bottom
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How to Change the Culture of a Team Two years ago, I took the management role for an organization of about 40 people. My predecessor had been asked to leave the business as the team’s performance had gradually been on the decline. My task was to turn the team organization around – no small feat as an outsider to the organization
» Read more How to Communicate Your Value Proposition to Customers Companies compete on a daily basis for a finite amount of sales and revenue in the market. Whether we are a small business, a conglomerate, a B2B or B2C firm, we all have competitors. As we chase the next sale, the next contract or the next service appointment, though, there are ways of
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What is the Difference Between Management and Leadership? Much has been written about the difference between managers and leaders. It’s an important discussion because they are in fact, not the same thing. Further, a conversation explaining the difference between management and leadership to our employees can greatly benefit an up-and-coming staffer, who is considering future positions in your organization. Let’s take
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Management is inherently ambiguous. As a business leader, we make decisions throughout the day on a variety of matters. Issues arise through email, during a visit to our office or on a phone call, and our decisions impact the business, the people and the customers. Because of the impact, decision making is a particularly challenging aspect of management, and it is here where
» Read more How to Present Information to Your Target Audience We’ve all experienced it. We ask for an update and our employee who sits just three offices down writes you an email that takes them an hour to write, and you 20 minutes to read. Or, we get 4 attachments full of data and numbers that clog our inbox. The concept of audience is taught
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How to Restructure an Organization If you’ve ever been part of restructuring of an organization, you know that the very mention of it can induce a sense of worry. Restructuring a company is tough and takes a great deal of careful planning. Moreover, business renewal is never easy nor is it fun because big decisions need to be made that affect
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Managing a Virtual Staff If you are a manager who spends a lot of time on the phone with your employees who sit nine time zones away, you’ve come to the right place. These days, many managers find themselves responsible for employees overseas. Whether these employees report directly to you, or to a local in-country manager, the challenges of working with remote workers are
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