UPDATED 9th AUGUST: We’re still getting inquiries about these books, but please note that they are, in fact, all gone now. Thank you for your interest, as we hope to have some new titles available to you in the near future.
We’ve made available free review copies of books in recent months to those readers willing to take on the subjects raised within them and review them for our publications. The reviews tend to end up in either our newsletter, Project Management Tipoffs (out Thursday, subscribe today) or on this blog space.
Today takes on a somewhat different tact. While both books attempt to address workplace matters, one of them is written from project manager’s approach to these matters, while other is readily available to project managers, but can also target those who have been affected by a terrible workplace ordeal. (Alternatively, the two later additions below are wrought with matters regarding failure. The third book is about the lessons gleaned from teams that fail, while the fourth tackles recovering from nearly certain failure).
A short summary of both titles available today…
Stop Playing Games! A Project Manager’s Guide to Successfully Navigating Organizational Politicsis a new title made available to our readers from a generous gift by RMC Publications, publishers of works by the likes of noted PM authors Rita Mulcahy, Jerry Manas, and Games! author, Rick Morris. Morris is a certified PMP, ITIL practitioner, noted public speaker and the creator of a foundation to promote Project Management in charities and other non-profits, has authored Project Management That Works and The Everything Project Management Book. Talking about a variety of the elements related to stakeholder management, Morris attempts to explain the principles of buy-in, controlling project communication, and managing effectively within a corporate culture.
Bullying in the Workplace: An Organisational Toolkitis another compelling subject from our publishing partners Gower, authored by experienced psychologist and behaviour/relationship trainer Elaine Douglas. It endeavours to be a strong resource for identifying, understanding and eradicating bullying. Though it primarily seeks out HR and personnel professionals, managers and especially those early in the project careers that want to don the project manager mantle some day. The toolkit can tackle the issues raised from bullying both from an organisational standpoint, and on an individual basis.ALSO
AVAILABLE:
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable is Patrick Lencioni’s bestseller from 2002 that has since been re-issued with updated illustrations by Kensuke Okabayashi. The story unwinds as a testament to the true nature of teams and the inherent struggles faced by even the most successful teams. One Amazon reviewer praised Lencioni’s ability to reveal “deep, uncomfortable truths about people, teams and what can separate the great from the also-rans.” In essence, the fable of the protagonist Kathryn Petersen – while fictitious – does what fables do: reveal inescapable morals that can benefit those fortunate enough to partake in the gripping writing.
Rescue the Problem Project: A Complete Guide to Identifying, Preventing, and Recovering from Project Failureis a new guide from Washington State-based PMP and recognised turnaround specialist Todd C. Williams that taps into that turnaround expertise and shows a variety of ways to implement the lessons he’s learned along the way to saving projects headed for the scrap heap. The book fills a need in the market, as the back cover reveals nearly two-thirds of projects fail to meet goals, and 25% of those are cancelled outright. No part of project recovery is left unexplored – Williams endeavours in Rescue to chronicle the process from start to finish.
While the other three books are available to anyone interested in project &/or team management that’s willing to read it and provide a thorough review, we’d like some perspective for a book review on Bullying; that is, we’d love to hear from someone who has experienced bullying first-hand, regardless of what managerial culture they find themselves working in at the moment. Someone who can give us a first-hand application, ideally, of the principles raised, or even someone who has a counterperspective on those principles, would be a great fit for reviewing this special topic rarely considered in the workplace. And again for our ideal reviewer, someone who has experienced all of this in a project setting (though not required) would be helpful.
Again, it’s a first come, first served basis. Leave a comment below, but make a compelling case for your credentials to review the Bullying title as listed above.
I would enjoy the opportunity to review your book ‘Bullying in the workplace’. I am a primary school teacher and during my NQT year (first year after qualifying) was bullied so badly that I spent six months off work with stress, very nearly destroying my career. My teaching union was of huge support to me and they are now looking to use me to help other teachers who have found themselves in the position I was. I have since started working at another school where there is a positive ethos and attitude amongst the teaching staff. This has made a huge difference to me in terms of my confidence, which in turn has resulted in a much happier social and family life. Before training to be a teacher, I have worked in careers where I have been responsible for the well-being, performance and training of other staff, as well as general management duties for my department. I think this will allow me to give a fair and balanced view of your toolkit and would be happy to review it on my blog. This will also tie in with a couple of pieces I am intending to write on workplace bullying and the effect it can have on people, especially in relation to my own experience.
Kind Regards
Skint.Teacher
Twitter: projectmgmt
The book has now been reviewed – you can read about it here: Bullying in the Workplace