So they made you a manager ...

Book Review: The Rules of Management: A Definitive Code for Managerial Success by Richard Templar

Take one part Scott Adams' Dogbert's Top Secret Management Handbook, two parts Stephen R. Covey, add a sprinkling of contemporary cultural references ranging from "The Office" to "Pirates of the Carribean", and mix well. Pour into a highly readable format of 107 individual two-minute tidbits, and you have the recipe for Richard Templar's The Rules of Management

In my varied career, I have often ended up filling a position known as "manager". As a consequence I am wearily familiar with the flavor of the month variety of management/leadership 'how-to' books, all of which promise to turn you into a top-line manager by the second chapter. That is, until you find out this magical change won't occur until you buy the next book in the series, ad infinitum. If the secrets of being a manager are that easily distilled and digested, why would we need more than one book?

The fact is that managing people is not that simple. As Templar points out in the introduction to Rules, just the definition of what a manager does can be a complicated affair. In my own humble opinion (and 15+ years experience), management is like a Dilbert strip - you either get it or you don't. So it was with a great deal of skepticism that I started in on The Rules of Management.

To my relief I found that Templar does get it. Like the Pirate Code, the Rules are more what you'd call guidelines than actual rules. Templar is under no illusion that management is just a list of things to do (or not do). With an easy jargon-free style he points out the things that you already know but may have forgotten, or have neglected to actually put into action. He accurately but gently punctures many of the generalizations that managers fall into, and redirects that energy to where it needs to go - letting our people manage themselves, and actually enjoy our jobs!

This is not a read-it-cover-to-cover type of book, at least not for me. Open it at random for help, for inspiration, or for a kick in the butt when you get stagnant (and we all do). If you are sincerely interested in building, strengthening, or revitalizing a team, this is an excellent addition to your reference shelf. If you are of the old pointy hair school of management this book won't help you, but buy it anyway; you just might fool your boss into thinking you are motivated.

The Truth About Managers

Book Review: The Truth About Managing People by Stephen P. Robbins

If we are to judge by books about management, what managers truly need is a course in time management. Apparently the average manager does not have the time to read more than a two-page distillation of how to hire the right people or how to discipline an employee. One-minute management techniques yield exactly the results you would expect - a quick and dirty "fix" that isn't going to be able to bear the test of time.

Or is it that managers simply don't have the attention span necessary to absorb more information than that at a time?

The tone of books on management really hasn't changed over the last two decades, and The Truth About Managing People follows tried and true tracks. Not tried and true management methods, but tried and true methods of selling books on management. Short, pithy summaries of common management pitfalls and the "true" way of dealing with them.

I have been managing people for the last three decades, and the first and only truth I have learned for certain is that formulaic methods of dealing with your employees and your organization will yield mediocre results, uninspired employees, and low job satisfaction. But in the right organization it will get you made a vice president.

Information vs Communication

Book Review: Dialogue Gap by Peter Nixon

"Where is the life we have lost in living? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?" - T.S. Eliot

In Dialogue Gap, Peter Nixon defines communication as the exchange of information, and dialogue as the active sharing of ideas and knowledge. Terminology aside, the idea is that there is a difference between simply relaying information and actually gaining knowledge and wisdom. A surfeit of information -- much of it unreliable or just wrong -- is as close as your computer, tablet, or smart phone. Knowledge and wisdom are not so readily accessible, requiring action and interaction.

At a certain level,Dialogue Gap reads more like a textbook than the standard management "how-to" book, (for example, The Truth About Managing People) so it may put off readers who are used to a more practical than theoretical approach. Admittedly, Nixon can come off a little preachy at times, perhaps forgetting who his target audience may be. But this does not negate the importance and relevance of his message: that in our seemingly endless quest for increasing amounts of information, our ability to communicate (or dialog) is decreasing to a 140 character limit.

"The two words 'information' and 'communication' are often used interchangeably, but they signify quite different things. Information is giving out; communication is getting through." - Sydney J. Harris

Peter Nixon gives us a prescription for getting through - put down the cell phones, turn off the computer, and TALK. Revolutionary ... and simple. All it takes is a complete change of mindset. Give it a try.

The Evolving Art of Virtual Teamwork

Book Review: Virtual Teamwork: Mastering the Art and Practice of Online Learning and Corporate Collaboration edited by Robert Ubell

Despite the glut of books on social networking (or perhaps because of it) there is a scarcity of peer-reviewed source material on virtual teams. Virtual Teamwork takes an important step toward bridging that gap.

Distance learning and virtual collaboration are here to stay. Team projects are now the norm in most organizations, often across geographical boundaries. In the past ten years I have been involved in three virtual teams for three different employers, as well as being involved in several distance learning efforts. The results have been mixed, but this is an indication of how this sector is evolving, not a question of its validity.

As many organizations are discovering, it is not just about the technology. "Cute cat" tools like Facebook or the divisive Twitter are obviously not a solution for corporate or educational communication. The fact that millions of people use social media does not give it value - millions of people also watch "reality" TV shows. In terms of connectedness, Facebook was over-valued. But just installing Lync or some other flavor of the month messaging tool into the corporate software pool isn't the answer either if no one uses it.

The essays that editor Robert Ubell has gathered covers many of the hurdles that one encounters in virtual teams. Although they are often couched from the perspective of one discipline, the insights can be applied across the spectrum. For instance, the problems that occur in team projects in a university class are not any different than one sees in a corporate environment, and the solutions bear equal weight as well.

While there may not be enough detail for organizational leaders looking for a blueprint ("use software X, it will solve all your problems"), Ubell and his contributors have given us a research based framework to build on. As such, I find Virtual Teamwork an invaluable resource that promotes 'out of the box' thinking towards managing virtual teams and collaborative groups.