How to Be an Even Better Manager ^{3rd Ed.}

Keeping pace with the greater demands placed on managers today, Michael Armstrong has revised and updated his practical, don-to-earth guide. Concise and straightforward, arranged alphabetically, the book can be used for reference, as a training guide, or simple for guidance on specific details.

Every aspect of management is covered, from assertiveness and budgeting to time management and trouble shooting. New chapters in this edition include listening skills, mission and value statements, organisational effectiveness, performance management, strategic management and stress management.

This desk-top manual will be invaluable for managers or executives who wants to improve their management skills and be more successful.

• Introduction: On being a better manager
• What is management?
• The aims of management
• The process of management
• Managerial roles
• Managerial qualities
• The role of experience
• The role of personality
• What you can do

1. Achieving results
• What makes achievers tick?
• What do achievers do?
• How to analyse your own behaviour
• Learning
• Conclusion
2. Assertiveness
• Assertion and aggression
• Assertive behaviour
• Handling aggression
• Influencing skills
3. Budgeting
• The need for budgets
• Limitations of budgets
• Preparing budgets
• Zero-base budgeting
• Flexible budgets
• Budgetary control
4. Case presentation
• Preparation
• Presentation
• Checklist
5. Change management
• The process of change
• The impact of change
• Resistance to change
• Managing change
• Case studies
6. Clear thinking
• Developing a proposition
• Testing propositions
• Fallacious and misleading arguments
7. Communicating
• Barriers to communication
• Overcoming barriers to communication
8. Conflict management
• Resolving conflict
• Case studies
9. Controlling
• Essentials of control
• Controlling inputs and outputs
• Ratio analysis
• Control systems
• Management by exception
10. Coordinating
• How to coordinate
• A case study
11. Corporate culture and how to manage it
• Definition
• The importance of culture
• The significance of corporate culture to managers
• How corporate culture manifests itself
• The relevance of corporate culture
• Can corporate culture be managed?
• The culture change or reinforcement programme
• Examples of cultural change programmes
12. Cost cutting
• What to cut
• Planning to cut costs
• The cost-reduction exercise
• A case study
13. Counselling
• People problems
• Dealing with problems
• Why counsel?
• How to counsel
• When to counsel
14. Creative thinking
• Creative and logical thinking
• The process of creativity
• Barriers to creative thinking
• How to develop your ability to think creatively
• Brainstorming
15. Crisis management
• What is crisis management?
• Causes of crisis
• Management crisis
• Crisis management behaviour
• Negotiating situations
• When to fight
• Crisis management techniques
• Qualities of a crisis manager
16. Delegation
• Advantages of delegation
• When to delegate
• How to delegate
• The thoughts of some successful delegators
• A case study
17. Developing people
• Investing in people
• The manager's contribution to effective training
• Management development
• Coaching
18. Efficiency and effectiveness
• Case studies
19. Entrepreneurship
• What makes an entrepreneur?
• Intrapreneurship
• Entrepreneurship — how it is done
20. Excellence and how to achieve it
21. Getting on
• Knowing yourself
• Knowing what you want
• Develop skills
• Personal qualities and behaviour
22. How things go wrong and how to put them right
• The Peter Principle
• Military incompetence
• Why things go wrong — a summary
• What can you do about it?
23. Innovating
• Individual characteristics
• Organizational characteristics
• Case studies
24. Integrating
• Vertical and horizontal integration
• A case study
25. Interviewing
• Approach to the interview
• Conducting the interview
• Evaluating the interview
• The final assessment
• Dos and don'ts of interviewing
26. Leadership
• What is leadership?
• Objectives of a leader
• How are these objectives achieved?
• What is a leader?
• What do leaders do?
• How leaders do it
• Leadership skills
• Select an appropriate management style
• Case studies
27. Listening skills
• Why people don't listen effectively
28. Managerial planning
• Planning activities
• Planning techniques
29. Managing your boss
• Getting agreement
• Dealing with problems
• Impressing your boss
30. Meetings
• Down with meetings
• What's wrong with meetings?
• What's right with meetings?
• Do's and don'ts of meetings
• Chairmanship
• Members
31. Mission and value statements
• Mission statements
• Value system and statements
32. Motivating
• What is motivation?
• Motivation and needs
• Classification of needs
• The relationship between satisfaction and performance
• The role of expectations
• The reward system
• Other factors affecting motivation
• Motivation in practice
33. Negotiating
• Commercial negotiations
• Trade union negotiations
• The process of negotiation
• Negotiation tactics
34. Objectives
• Why have objectives?
• Corporate objectives
• Individual objectives
35. Organizational effectiveness
• Features of an effective organization
• Improving organizational effectiveness
36. Organizing
• The task
• Basic approaches to organization design
• Organization guidelines
• Organization charts
• Job descriptions
• Case studies
37. Performance management
• Performance review
• Continuous appraisal
• A case study
• Performance improvement programmes
• Reward review
38. Persuading
• Six rules for effective persuasion
39. Policies
• What are policies?
• Why have policies?
• What makes a good policy?
• How to formulate policies
• How to implement policies
40. Power and politics
• Power — good or bad?
• Sources of power
• Using power
• Politics — good or bad?
• Political approaches
• Dangers
• Dealing with organizational politicians
• Use of politics
41. Presentation and effective speaking
• Overcoming nervousness
• Preparation
• Delivery
• Conclusion
42. Problem-solving and decision-making
• Problems and opportunities
• Improving your skills
• Problem-solving and decision-making techniques
43. Productivity improvement
• The benefits of improved productivity
• Productivity improvement programme
• Productivity audit checklist
• Implementing improvements
44. Profit improvement
• Factors affecting profit improvement
• Approach to profit improvement
• Profit improvement checklist
45. Report writing
• What makes a good report?
• Structure
• Plain words
• Presentation
46. Strategic management
• What is strategic management?
• Benefits of strategic management
• Strategy
• Strategic planning
• Implementing the strategic plan
• When planning goes wrong
• Conclusion
47. Stress management
• Varieties of stress
• Causes of stress
• Coping with stress
48. Team building
• How groups behave
• Effective teams
• Team building methods
• How best to work in a team
49. Time management
• Analysis
• Organizing yourself
• Organizing other people
• Time-consumer's checklist
50. Trouble shooting
• Planning the campaign
• Diagnosis
• Trouble-shooting checklist
• Cure
• Using management consultants

The title promises stuff it can't live up to. This just shows that an otherwise brilliant author may write extremely bad books as well.