Putting the One Minute Manager to Work: How to Turn the 3 Secrets Into Skills

by Kenneth H. Blanchard and Robert Lorber

Book Overview

The One Minute Manager , published in 1982, took the world by storm. More than 13 million copies have been sold in this country and it has been translated into more than 25 languages, making it one of the most influential books about business management ever written. The second book in this record-breaking series, Putting the One Minute Manager to Work , turns the three secrets of One Minute Management into day-to-day skills and shows how they work...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060881674
• ISBN13: 9780060881672
• Release Date: May 2006
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 112 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.8" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

A book for everybody.

This book is pitched at managers who are either new to the position or managers who feel they might have people problems they need to resolve - in other words: everybody. A lot of the philosophy is common sense to me, and I say this to emphasize that I agree with it wholeheartedly. The core of the book revolves around closing the loop - if you'll pardon the pun - on training, monitoring and giving feedback when managing employees. The authors follow the style of management that delineates goals, performance and how the employee's performance matches the targets: activators, behaviors and consequences, that is, the ABC's of people management. The manager should make sure he ("he" is she or he) sets appropriate goals for each employee and for each task. Goals must be concrete and observable and targets must be measurable. When giving feedback, make sure it is constructive. If the results are positive, give lots of praise. If the results aren't up to par, review the reasons with the employee, get agreement, and end the discussion on a positive note, praising the employee about one angle of the task he or she did well. The authors therefore, advocate encouraging learning by reassessing goals, and never reprimanding a learner. Another part of the philosophy is PRICE, which stands for P-inpoint, R-ecord, I-nvolve, C-oach, E-valuate - all revolving around identification and recording of planned measurable output, help or coaching along the way and checking performance against the specific targets originally set. This identification and planning of the measurable output must be arrived at together with the employee to ensure that the employee has a sense of ownership of the targets to achieve. Another example worth noting from this book is about the character Hank. If the manager expects his people will do nothing right, he shouldn't be surprised if they aren't motivated to do better. This is basic human psychology: expect the best, treat people in that way and that's what you will get. Near the end of the book, one last nugget of wisdom is given. Do implement this philosophy in everything you do, and you will start to see improvements. Don't overly worry if you can't get everything right at first. Incremental improvements to this process will also bring results. One main consequence of this people management style, is better motivated people, basically because it implies management does care not only about what employees do, and how well they do it, but also that management follows up. In the process management earns trust, and the employees will reach to achieve any goals they believe is even slightly within their grasp. In the end, contrary to the common belief that one cannot motivate others and that one can only enable people to feel motivated, I believe this management method is one way to motivate people.

Fleshing Out The One Minute Manager's Process

Almost everyone who reads the One Minute Manager loves the book, both for its simplicity and clarity. One minute goal-setting, praisings and reprimands soon abound. Gradually, all of this good communication can begin to tail off. The One Minute Manager process needs to become a new habit and to expand the skills both of the one minute manager and the people who work for her/him. That's where Putting the One Minute Manager to Work comes into play. This excellent sequel to the One Minute Manager provides more guidance on how to combine goal-setting, praisings and reprimands. This is combined in the Price System. Price stands for Pinpoint where performance should be improved, then Record the current performance, Involve the person involved in setting goals and how reviews and coaching will occur, Coach people to improve results, and Evaluate the performance to reinforce the good and replace the not so good. This is basically the classic Skinner model on behavior modification, and it works well. The key limitation of the approach is that it does not go far enough to determine where and how much performance should be improved, learn what is possible, and use best practices to transfer knowledge. In terms of the 2,000 percent solution process, this just covers part of the first two of eight steps. But it does cover what it covers well. If this process improves you from where you are today, by all means use it. If you are already a great communicator and motivator, then you are beyond this book. My guess is that almost everyone in their first managerial role would benefit from this book. Communications are the biggest source of stalled performance in most companies, and this book provides solid information for overcoming that stall. If your company has other stalls, like avoiding the unattractive, disbelief, misconceptions about customers, helplessness, and so forth, you will need additional help. But with improved communications skills, you will be in a good position to attack those stalls as well.

It Just Takes A Second

The original One Minute Manager was the very first management book that I read. I am happy to read this sequel and see in detail the implementation of its principles in this short book by authors Kenneth Blanchard Ph.D. and Robert Lorber Ph. D. as they stress the importance of praising (as well as reprimanding) employees which often times gets lost in today's very busied, hurried, bottom-line scrutinizing Corporate culture. Remember to be successful managing employees we must all pay the pay the PRICE: (Pinpoint, Record, Involve, Coach and Evaluate.)

Fleshing Out The One Minute Manager's Process

Almost everyone who reads the One Minute Manager loves the book, both for its simplicity and clarity. One minute goal-setting, praisings and reprimands soon abound. Gradually, all of this good communication can begin to tail off.The One Minute Manager process needs to become a new habit and to expand the skills both of the one minute manager and the people who work for her/him. That's where Putting the One Minute Manager to Work comes into play.This excellent sequel to the One Minute Manager provides more guidance on how to combine goal-setting, praisings and reprimands. This is combined in the Price System. Price stands for Pinpoint where performance should be improved, then Record the current performance, Involve the person involved in setting goals and how reviews and coaching will occur, Coach people to improve results, and Evaluate the performance to reinforce the good and replace the not so good. This is basically the classic Skinner model on behavior modification, and it works well. The key limitation of the approach is that it does not go far enough to determine where and how much performance should be improved, learn what is possible, and use best practices to transfer knowledge. In terms of the 2,000 percent solution process, this just covers part of the first two of eight steps. But it does cover what it covers well.If this process improves you from where you are today, by all means use it. If you are already a great communicator and motivator, then you are beyond this book.My guess is that almost everyone in their first managerial role would benefit from this book. Communications are the biggest source of stalled performance in most companies, and this book provides solid information for overcoming that stall.If your company has other stalls, like avoiding the unattractive, disbelief, misconceptions about customers, helplessness, and so forth, you will need additional help. But with improved communications skills, you will be in a good position to attack those stalls as well.

ESSENTIAL SUPPLEMENT TO AVOID "STALLED" THINKING

Like many people, I was enthused by the simple, clear picture presented by THE ONE MINUTE MANAGER of the key management tasks that could allow me to communicate better with others. Then the doubt began. How do I handle tough people? How do I handle promising beginners? And so forth. I think I learned much more from reading PUTTING THE ONE MINUTE MANAGER TO WORK than I did from the ONE MINUTE MANAGER. An expecially good part is the PRICE system that uses measurements to create valuable feedback and motivation for people to improve. I strongly urge you to read this book. If you want to know even more about how to use measurements and feedback to get results that are 20 times better, you owe it to yourself to read THE 2,000 PERCENT SOLUTION. This book is totally consistent with the One Minute Manager books.