Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management (Pragmatic Programmers) | 
 enlarge | Authors: Johanna Rothman, Esther Derby
Publisher: Pragmatic Bookshelf
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $13.87
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Avg. Customer Rating:  25 reviews
Sales Rank: 55223
Format: Illustrated
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 176
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.8
ISBN: 0976694026
Dewey Decimal Number: 658
EAN: 9780976694021
ASIN: 0976694026
Publication Date: September 19, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: All orders ship same business day via standard shipping (USPS Media Mail) if received by 1 PM CST.
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Product Description
Great management is difficult to see as it occurs. It's possible to see the results of great management, but it's not easy to see how managers achieve those results. Great management happens in one-on-one meetings and with other managers---all in private. It's hard to learn management by example when you can't see it. You can learn to be a better manager---even a great manager---with this guide. You'll follow along as Sam, a manager just brought on board, learns the ropes and deals with his new team over the course of his first eight weeks on the job. From scheduling and managing resources to helping team members grow and prosper, you'll be there as Sam makes it happen. You'll find powerful tips covering: - Delegating effectively
- Using feedback and goal-setting
- Developing influence
- Handling one-on-one meetings
- Coaching and mentoring
- Deciding what work to do---and what not to do
- ...and more.
Full of tips and practical advice on the most important aspects of management, this is one of those books that can make a lasting and immediate impact on your career.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 20 more reviews...
 Good management introduction November 18, 2008
Behind Closed Doors takes a different approach for a management book - it follows the first seven weeks of a new (external) manager coming into a company and shows, step-by-step, what the new manager does and why. The book then covers 13 key techniques presented as general guidelines. While much of the approach works well, unfortunately the book is inconsistent. For example, while it is geared towards new managers, the new manager in the book is a director - a manager of managers. While that does help illustrate involvement between a manager and his/her (perfect) boss, the book really doesn't illustrate much about the manager's relationships with anyone else. The book is also a little technologically backward by not recognizing/suggesting software tools to aid in certain cases. For example, a BVC (Big Visible Chart, e.g. large whiteboard) is still recommended for portfolio project management, despite the huge drawback that it does not keep track of history.
Overall, there are many positive points to this book, including a fresh perspective, enjoyable to read prose, and especially the 13 key techniques. For new managers, I would definitely recommend this book. For experienced managers, it might serve as a decent review of the fundamentals, but it probably won't be a huge help.
 Greate Management 101 book December 28, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Practical approach to management. This book shows the application of good management practices using real-world scenarios. It is easy to read and written in such a way that you can instantly start applying its concepts in your environment.
Practical Indeed! July 9, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I am very skeptical of most business improvement books and one size fits all methodologies, but I can tell you that this book absolutely shines as a glint of hope in the sea of business improvement noise. As opposed to trying to force a given technique that will apply to everyone in every business, this book provides some very "real" examples that exist in the software development world and some very simple concepts and techniques that can be used. This book is not written like an academic book of problems and solutions, but more of a story based book on a "real world" scenario, which truly solidifies the pragmatic name of the publisher. This pragmatic approach makes the book very easy to read, understand, and ultimately use. I think if you use at least one or two of the techniques presented in this book such as One-on-Ones and Big Visual Charts (BVCs) that the book will have more than paid for itself in terms of the time you will have spent reading it and of course the money!
Excellent Guide for New and Seasoned Managers of Knowledge Workers June 3, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is an excellent work that guided me though my first formal management experience. The book weaves its lessons into a story which helped you to understand how to apply what you learned. Like many important books, it explains some simple rules that can be difficult to execute in practice. The downside of reading this book is that you may realized that you're not being managed well (or have not been in the past) and you can no longer live in blissful ignorance. All technical managers at all levels should have read a copy of this book. The section on having one on ones by itself is worth the price.
Basic solid info covered in fluff March 28, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Having gone through a recent re-org that calls itself "new" 6 months after the fact, a 2-hour reading of this book was able to bullet point a good many ways the new management chain is screwing up. Nothing in this book is actually "secret" (it's all pragmatic) and very little happens "behind closed doors" (by the time you're there, something's gone wrong), but it's a good primer to read for a new manager or a good primer to pummel a pointy-haired boss with when they're doing nothing right. The fictionalized case study running through the book didn't appeal to me, but the drawn out points and sidebars were well (that is "concisely") written.
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