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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 organizationSet clear and realistic development goalsIdentify and build relationships with influential sponsorsGive back and bring value to mentors and senior advisersEvaluate your progress in reaching your professional goals

DON'T LET YOUR FEAR OF FINANCE GET IN THE WAY OF YOUR SUCCESSCan 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 financeCompare your firm's financials with rivals'Shift your team's focus from revenues to profitsAssess your vulnerability to industry downturnsUse financial data to defend budget requestsInvest smartly through cost/benefit analysis

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 focusedWork less but accomplish moreStop bad habits and develop good onesBreak overwhelming projects into manageable piecesConquer e-mail overloadWrite to-do lists that really work

Great teams don't just happen.How often have you sat in team meetings complaining to yourself, "e;Why does it take forever for this group to make a simple decision? What are we even trying to achieve?"e; 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

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 yoüll cultivate a political strategy that¿s authentic to you. Yoüll 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.

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.