HBR Guide – serie

Set your company up for long-term success.Every company needs a strategy. A focused strategy aligns decision making throughout the organization and helps establish a competitive edge in the marketplace. But with so many options to consider, how do you define a unique strategy that will ensure growth?Whether you're starting a business from scratch or leading an existing company facing new threats, this book offers the direction you need. The HBR Guide to Setting Your Strategy provides practical tips and advice that break down the process of crafting strategy so you can identify the areas your company should build on to help it thrive long into the future.You'll learn to:Understand what strategy is—and what it isn'tDefine where you'll play and how you'll winConduct more-effective strategic discussions with your teamTest your strategy before you implement itCommunicate your strategy to key stakeholdersEnsure your strategy is flexible and adaptableArm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, with the most trusted brand in business. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

TAKE THE PAIN OUT OF PRESENTATIONS. Terrified of speaking in front of a group? Or simply looking to polish your skills? No matter where you are on the spectrum, this guide will give you the confidence and the tools you need to get results. Written by presentation expert Nancy Duarte, the HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations will help you: * Win over tough crowds * Organize a coherent narrative * Create powerful messages and visuals * Connect with and engage your audience * Show people why your ideas matter to them * Strike the right tone, in any situation

IS YOUR WORKLOAD SLOWING YOU--AND YOUR CAREER--DOWN? Your inbox is overflowing. You're paralyzed because you have too much to do but don't know where to start. Your to-do list never seems to get any shorter. You leave work exhausted but have little to show for it. It's time to learn how to get the right work done. In the HBR Guide to Getting the Right Work Done, you'll discover how to focus your time and energy where they will yield the greatest reward. Not only will you end each day knowing you made progress--your improved productivity will also set you apart from the pack. Whether you're a new professional or an experienced one, this guide will help you: * Prioritize and stay focused * Work less but accomplish more * Stop bad habits and develop good ones * Break overwhelming projects into manageable pieces * Conquer e-mail overload * Write to-do lists that really work

MEET YOUR GOALS--ON TIME AND ON BUDGET. How do you rein in the scope of your project when you've got a group of demanding stakeholders breathing down your neck? And map out a schedule everyone can stick to? And motivate team members who have competing demands on their time and attention? Whether you're managing your first project or just tired of improvising, this guide will give you the tools and confidence you need to define smart goals, meet them, and capture lessons learned so future projects go even more smoothly. The HBR Guide to Project Management will help you: * Build a strong, focused team * Break major objectives into manageable tasks * Create a schedule that keeps all the moving parts under control * Monitor progress toward your goals * Manage stakeholders' expectations * Wrap up your project and gauge its success

DON'T LET YOUR FEAR OF FINANCE GET IN THE WAY OF YOUR SUCCESS Can you prepare a breakeven analysis? Do you know the difference between an income statement and a balance sheet? Or understand why a business that's profitable can still go belly-up? Has your grasp of your company's numbers helped--or hurt--your career? Whether you're new to finance or you just need a refresher, this go-to guide will give you the tools and confidence you need to master the fundamentals, as all good managers must. The HBR Guide to Finance Basics for Managers will help you: * Learn the language of finance * Compare your firm's financials with rivals' * Shift your team's focus from revenues to profits * Assess your vulnerability to industry downturns * Use financial data to defend budget requests * Invest smartly through cost/benefit analysis

ARE YOUR WORKING RELATIONSHIPS WORKING AGAINST YOU? To achieve your goals and get ahead, you need to rally people behind you and your ideas. But how do you do that when you lack formal authority? Or when you have a boss who gets in your way? Or when you're juggling others' needs at the expense of your own? By managing up, down, and across the organization. Your success depends on it, whether you're a young professional or an experienced leader. The HBR Guide to Managing Up and Across will help you: * Advance your agenda--and your career--with smarter networking * Build relationships that bring targets and deadlines within reach * Persuade decision makers to champion your initiatives * Collaborate more effectively with colleagues * Deal with new, challenging, or incompetent bosses * Navigate office politics

Find the right person to help supercharge your career. Whether you're eyeing a specific leadership role, hoping to advance your skills, or simply looking to broaden your professional network, you need to find someone who can help. Wait for a senior manager to come looking for you--and you'll probably be waiting forever. Instead, you need to find the mentoring that will help you achieve your goals. Managed correctly, mentoring is a powerful and efficient tool for moving up. The HBR Guide to Getting the Mentoring You Need will help you get it right. You'll learn how to: * Find new ways to stand out in your organization * Set clear and realistic development goals * Identify and build relationships with influential sponsors * Give back and bring value to mentors and senior advisers * Evaluate your progress in reaching your professional goals

Are you suffering from work-related stress? Feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and short-tempered at work--and at home? Then you may have too much stress in your life. Stress is a serious problem that impacts not only your mental and physical health, but also your loved ones and your organization. So what can you do to address it? The HBR Guide to Managing Stress at Work will help you find a sustainable solution. It will help you reach the goal of getting on an even keel--and staying there. You'll learn how to: * Harness stress so it spurs, not hinders, productivity * Create realistic and manageable routines * Aim for progress, not perfection * Make the case for a flexible schedule * Ease the physical tension of spending too much time at your computer * Renew yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally

Don't let destructive drama sideline your career. Every organization has its share of political drama: Personalities clash. Agendas compete. Turf wars erupt. But you need to work productively with your colleagues--even difficult ones--for the good of your organization and your career. How can you do that without compromising your personal values? By acknowledging that power dynamics and unwritten rules exist--and navigating them constructively. The HBR Guide to Office Politics will help you succeed at work without being a power grabber or a corporate climber. Instead you'll cultivate a political strategy that's authentic to you. You'll learn how to: * Gain influence without losing your integrity * Contend with backstabbers and bullies * Work through tough conversations * Manage tensions when resources are scarce * Get your share of choice assignments * Accept that not all conflict is bad Arm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, from a source you trust. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

Help your employees help themselves. As a manager in today's business world, you can't just tell your direct reports what to do: You need to help them make their own decisions, enable them to solve tough problems, and actively develop their skills on the job. Whether you have a star on your team who's eager to advance, an underperformer who's dragging the group down, or a steady contributor who feels bored and neglected, you need to coach them: Help shape their goals--and support their efforts to achieve them. In the HBR Guide to Coaching Employees you'll learn how to: * Create realistic but inspiring plans for growth * Ask the right questions to engage your employees in the development process * Give them room to grapple with problems and discover solutions * Allow them to make the most of their expertise while compelling them to stretch and grow * Give them feedback they'll actually apply * Balance coaching with the rest of your workload Arm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, from a source you trust. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

Get your idea off the ground. You've got a great idea that will increase revenue or boost productivity--but how do you get the buy-in you need to make it happen? By building a business case that clearly shows your idea's value. That's not always easy: Maybe you're not sure what kind of data your stakeholders will trust. Or perhaps you're intimidated by number crunching. The HBR Guide to Building Your Business Case, written by project management expert Raymond Sheen, gives you the guidance and tools you need to make a strong case. You'll learn how to: * Spell out the business need for your idea * Align your case with strategic goals * Build the right team to shape and test your idea * Calculate the return on investment * Analyze risks and opportunities * Present your case to stakeholders

Great teams don’t just happen.How often have you sat in team meetings complaining to yourself, “Why does it take forever for this group to make a simple decision? What are we even trying to achieve?” As a team leader, you have the power to improve things. It’s up to you to get people to work well together and produce results.Written by team expert Mary Shapiro, the HBR Guide to Leading Teams will help you avoid the pitfalls you’ve experienced in the past by focusing on the often-neglected people side of teams. With practical exercises, guidelines for structured team conversations, and step-by-step advice, this guide will help you:Pick the right team membersSet clear, smart goalsFoster camaraderie and cooperationHold people accountableAddress and correct bad behaviorKeep your team focused and motivated

Forget about the hard bargain.Whether you’re discussing the terms of a high-stakes deal, forming a key partnership, asking for a raise, or planning a family event, negotiating can be stressful. One person makes a demand, the other concedes a point. In the end, you settle on a subpar solution in the middle—if you come to any agreement at all.But these discussions don’t need to be win-or-lose situations. Written by negotiation expert Jeff Weiss, the HBR Guide to Negotiating provides a disciplined approach to finding a solution that works for everyone involved. Using a seven-part framework, this book delivers tips and advice to move you from a game of concessions and compromises to one of collaboration and creativity, resulting in better outcomes and better working relationships. You’ll learn how to:Prepare for your conversationUnderstand everyone’s interestsCraft the right messageWork with multiple partiesDisarm aggressive negotiatorsChoose the best solution

A set of advice to succeed on the job and overcome challenges at work.Master your most pressing professional challenges with this seven-volume set that collects the smartest best practices from leading experts all in one place. HBR Guide to Better Business Writing and HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations help you perfect your communication skills; HBR Guide to Managing Up and Across and HBR Guide to Office Politics show you how to build the best professional relationships; HBR Guide to Finance Basics for Managers is the one book you’ll ever need to teach you about the numbers; HBR Guide to Project Management addresses tough questions such as how to manage stakeholder expectations and how to manage uncertainty in a complex project; and HBR Guide to Getting the Right Work Done goes beyond basic productivity tips to teach you how to prioritize and focus on your work. This specially priced set of the most popular books in the series makes a perfect gift for aspiring leaders looking for trusted advice.Arm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, from the most trusted brand in business. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

Take the stress out of giving feedback.To help your employees meet their goals and fulfill their potential, you need to provide them with regular feedback. But the prospect of sharing potentially negative news can be overwhelming. How do you construct your message so that it’s not only well received but also expressed in a way that encourages change?Whether you’re commending exemplary work or addressing problem behavior, the HBR Guide to Delivering Effective Feedback provides you with practical advice and tips to transform any performance discussion—from weekly check-ins to annual reviews—into an opportunity for growth and development. You’ll learn to:Establish trust with your direct reportsAssess their performance fairlyEmphasize improvement, even in criticismReact calmly to a defensive feedback recipientRecognize and motivate star performersCreate individualized development plansArm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, from a source you trust. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

Learn to assess the situation, manage your emotions, and move on.While some of us enjoy a lively debate with colleagues and others prefer to suppress our feelings over disagreements, we all struggle with conflict at work. Every day we navigate an office full of competing interests, clashing personalities, limited time and resources, and fragile egos. Sure, we share the same overarching goals as our colleagues, but we don't always agree on how to achieve them. We work differently. We rub each other the wrong way. We jockey for position.How can you deal with conflict at work in a way that is both professional and productive--where it improves both your work and your relationships? You start by understanding whether you generally seek or avoid conflict, identifying the most frequent reasons for disagreement, and knowing what approaches work for what scenarios. Then, if you decide to address a particular conflict, you use that information to plan and conduct a productive conversation. The HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict will give you the advice you need to:Understand the most common sources of conflictExplore your options for addressing a disagreementRecognize whether you--and your counterpart--typically seek or avoid conflictPrepare for and engage in a difficult conversationManage your and your counterpart's emotionsDevelop a resolution togetherKnow when to walk awayArm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, with the most trusted brand in business. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

Make every minute count.Your calendar is full, and yet your meetings don’t always seem to advance your work. Problems often arise with unrealistic or vague agendas, off-track conversations, tuned-out participants who don’t know why they’re there, and follow-up notes that no one reads—or acts on. Meetings can feel like a waste of time. But when you invest a little energy in preparing yourself and your participants, you’ll stay focused, solve problems, gain consensus, and leave each meeting ready to take action.With input from over 20 experts combined with useful checklists, sample agendas, and follow-up memos, the HBR Guide to Making Every Meeting Matter will teach you how to:Set and communicate your meeting’s purposeInvite the right peoplePrepare an achievable agendaModerate a lively conversationRegain control of a wayward meetingEnsure follow-through without babysitting or haranguingArm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, from a source you trust. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

Managing the human side of workResearch by Daniel Goleman, a psychologist and coauthor of Primal Leadership, has shown that emotional intelligence is a more powerful determinant of good leadership than technical competence, IQ, or vision.Influencing those around us and supporting our own well-being requires us to be self-aware, know when and how to regulate our emotional reactions, and understand the emotional responses of those around us. No wonder emotional intelligence has become one of the crucial criteria in hiring and promotion.But luckily it’s not just an innate trait: Emotional intelligence is composed of skills that all of us can learn and improve on. In this guide, you’ll learn how to:Determine your emotional intelligence strengths and weaknessesUnderstand and manage your emotional reactionsDeal with difficult peopleMake smarter decisionsBounce back from tough timesHelp your team develop emotional intelligenceArm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, with the most trusted brand in business. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

Efficiently and effectively assess employees performance.Are your employees meeting their goals? Is their work improving over time? Understanding where your employees are succeeding—and falling short—is a pivotal part of ensuring you have the right talent to meet organizational objectives.In order to work with your people and effectively monitor their progress, you need a system in place. The HBR Guide to Performance Management provides a new multi-step, cyclical process to help you keep track of your employees' work, identify where they need to improve, and ensure they're growing with the organization.You'll learn to:Set clear employee goals that align with company objectivesMonitor progress and check in regularlyClose performance gapsUnderstand when to use performance analyticsCreate opportunities for growth, tailored to the individualOvercome and avoid burnout on your teamArm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, with the most trusted brand in business. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

Productivity starts with you.Every day begins with the same challenge: too many tasks on your to-do list and not enough time to accomplish them. Perhaps you tell yourself to just buckle down and get it all done—skip lunch, work a longer day. Maybe you throw your hands up, recognize you can't do it all, and just begin fighting the biggest fire or greasing the squeakiest wheel.And yet you know how good it feels on those days when you're working at peak productivity, taking care of difficult and meaty projects while also knocking off the smaller tasks that have been hanging over your head forever. Those are the times when your day didn't run you—you ran your day. To have more of those days more often, you need to discover what works for you given your strengths, your preferences, and the things you must accomplish.Whether you're an assistant or the CEO, whether you've been in the workforce for 40 years or are just starting out, this guide will help you be more productive. You'll discover different ways to:Motivate yourself to work when you really don't want toTake on less, but get more donePreserve time for your most important workImprove your focusMake the most of small pockets of time between meetingsSet boundaries with colleagues—without alienating themTake time off without tearing your hair outArm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, with the most trusted brand in business. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

Your next act starts now.You're ready for something new, but it's hard to start over. Just the idea of trading the security you have now for the unknown or throwing away the education and time you've invested in your current career can plunge you into a swirl of indecision and anxiety. But mixing things up every few years is an increasingly normal and cyclical part of a healthy work life--a way to gain new skills and stretch your existing ones by applying them to different contexts.Whether you know what you want to do next or you're still evaluating options, the HBR Guide to Changing Your Career will help you:Imagine other professional selvesIdentify the skills you need--and those you already possess that will transfer to another industryAssess the financial implications of the change you're consideringTry out new roles without endangering your current jobExplain a seemingly winding career pathPitch yourself into a new role

Make your career what you want it to be.Women regularly face unfair challenges in the workplace--from being passed over for promotion to being ignored in conversation. Unconscious bias and negative assumptions are working against them. As a woman, how can you break through these barriers and get what you want from your career?The HBR Guide for Women at Work will help you identify and overcome the factors that are holding you back. It provides practical tips and advice so you can face gender stereotypes head-on, make yourself visible when opportunities arise, and demonstrate your leadership skills.You'll learn to:Speak up in meetings in a way that ensures your ideas will be heardWield influence by building the right relationshipsAdvocate for yourself--and for what you wantAlign yourself with mentors and sponsors to support your growthShow passion without being perceived as "too emotional"Create your unique vision as a leader

A set of guides for understanding, using, and managing your emotions.Emotional intelligence has been shown to be more important than other competencies in determining outstanding leadership. Emotions drive some of our most critical professional interactions--whether you're inspiring your team to higher performance, persuading your boss to see something from your point of view, dealing with difficult colleagues, or managing your own stress level. Indeed, knowing how to manage emotions has become one of the crucial criteria in hiring and promotion.This specially priced five-volume set includes books from the HBR Guide series on the topics of Emotional Intelligence, Office Politics, Dealing with Conflict, Managing Stress at Work, and Managing Up and Across.You’ll learn how to:Monitor and channel your moods and reactionsDetermine your emotional intelligence strengths and weaknessesDeal with difficult peopleUnderstand when to resolve a conflict head-on--and when to let it goInfluence others across the organizationBuild supportive alliances with coworkers and colleaguesHandle workplace stress in productive waysArm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job with the most trusted brand in business. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

A set of guides to help you recognize good work and encourage progress at the workplace.If you manage a team, you need to be able to measure and manage their performance. From establishing a performance review cycle and building toward your year-end assessment, to providing individual feedback and coaching and establishing group cohesion and accountability, this collection teaches you the skills you need to inspire your team to greater success.This specially priced four-volume set includes books from the HBR Guide series on the topics of Performance Management, Coaching Employees, Delivering Effective Feedback, and Leading Teams.You'll learn how to:Set--and adapt--employee and team goalsAssess performance fairlyCoach your employees through tough situationsReact calmly if someone gets defensive when you deliver feedbackCreate plans for individual developmentRethink how you use performance ratingsAvoid burnout on your teamFoster group camaraderie and cooperationHold your team accountableArm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, with the most trusted brand in business. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

Don't let a fear of numbers hold you back.Today's business environment brings with it an onslaught of data. Now more than ever, managers must know how to tease insight from data--to understand where the numbers come from, make sense of them, and use them to inform tough decisions. How do you get started?Whether you're working with data experts or running your own tests, you'll find answers in the HBR Guide to Data Analytics Basics for Managers. This book describes three key steps in the data analysis process, so you can get the information you need, study the data, and communicate your findings to others.You'll learn how to:Identify the metrics you need to measureRun experiments and A/B testsAsk the right questions of your data expertsUnderstand statistical terms and conceptsCreate effective charts and visualizationsAvoid common mistakes

Take the stress out of giving feedback.To help your employees meet their goals and fulfill their potential, you need to provide them with regular feedback. But the prospect of sharing potentially negative news can be overwhelming. How do you construct your message so that it’s not only well received but also expressed in a way that encourages change?Whether you’re commending exemplary work or addressing problem behavior, the HBR Guide to Delivering Effective Feedback provides you with practical advice and tips to transform any performance discussion—from weekly check-ins to annual reviews—into an opportunity for growth and development. You’ll learn to:Establish trust with your direct reportsAssess their performance fairlyEmphasize improvement, even in criticismReact calmly to a defensive feedback recipientRecognize and motivate star performersCreate individualized development plansArm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, from a source you trust. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

Don't let a fear of numbers hold you back.Today's business environment brings with it an onslaught of data. Now more than ever, managers must know how to tease insight from data--to understand where the numbers come from, make sense of them, and use them to inform tough decisions. How do you get started?Whether you're working with data experts or running your own tests, you'll find answers in the HBR Guide to Data Analytics Basics for Managers. This book describes three key steps in the data analysis process, so you can get the information you need, study the data, and communicate your findings to others.You'll learn how to:Identify the metrics you need to measureRun experiments and A/B testsAsk the right questions of your data expertsUnderstand statistical terms and conceptsCreate effective charts and visualizationsAvoid common mistakes

Learn to assess the situation, manage your emotions, and move on.While some of us enjoy a lively debate with colleagues and others prefer to suppress our feelings over disagreements, we all struggle with conflict at work. Every day we navigate an office full of competing interests, clashing personalities, limited time and resources, and fragile egos. Sure, we share the same overarching goals as our colleagues, but we don't always agree on how to achieve them. We work differently. We rub each other the wrong way. We jockey for position.How can you deal with conflict at work in a way that is both professional and productive--where it improves both your work and your relationships? You start by understanding whether you generally seek or avoid conflict, identifying the most frequent reasons for disagreement, and knowing what approaches work for what scenarios. Then, if you decide to address a particular conflict, you use that information to plan and conduct a productive conversation. The HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict will give you the advice you need to:Understand the most common sources of conflictExplore your options for addressing a disagreementRecognize whether you--and your counterpart--typically seek or avoid conflictPrepare for and engage in a difficult conversationManage your and your counterpart's emotionsDevelop a resolution togetherKnow when to walk awayArm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, with the most trusted brand in business. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

Don’t let destructive drama sideline your career.Every organization has its share of political drama: Personalities clash. Agendas compete. Turf wars erupt. But you need to work productively with your colleagues—even difficult ones—for the good of your organization and your career. How can you do that without compromising your personal values? By acknowledging that power dynamics and unwritten rules exist—and navigating them constructively.The HBR Guide to Office Politics will help you succeed at work without being a power grabber or a corporate climber. Instead you’ll cultivate a political strategy that’s authentic to you. You’ll learn how to:Gain influence without losing your integrityContend with backstabbers and bulliesWork through tough conversationsManage tensions when resources are scarceGet your share of choice assignmentsAccept that not all conflict is badArm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, from a source you trust. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.