Organizations are increasingly using project management techniques within their operations and the specialist language of project management has become more and more commonplace in managerial and executive meetings. This trend is here to stay and it means that managers need to be familiar with project management roles, terms and processes. Our free Project Management Principles eBook will help you to understand the principles of project management.

In this eBook, you will learn: how projects are defined and why they differ from business processes, how the structure of an organization impacts project management, how project management roles and responsibilities are defined, how all projects can be mapped to the same basic life cycle structure, and how project management can be organized into functional areas.

This project management skills book is available for download in PDF format.

There is nothing more important to the success of a project than the people who make up the project team. Without good people - who possess the knowledge, experience, and motivation to get the job done - all of your other planning will be quickly wasted. 

In this eBook, you will learn: why human resource (HR) management is such an essential component of project management, how to identify and document project roles and creating an HR management plan, the importance of improving the overall team environment to enhance project performance, how to assess performance, provide feedback, resolve issues, and manage changes effectively, and why effective communication is vital to project success. 

This project team book is available for download in PDF format.

Managing the project schedule involves determining the delivery dates and milestones whilst taking all of the known constraints into account. It is sometimes seen as the core discipline of project management and some software tools focus almost exclusively on this aspect. It is required through all phases of the project lifecycle and is normally derived at a high level during the initiation process in order to provide a framework in which the project plan can evolve as the project iterates between planning, execution and monitoring. 

In this eBook, you will learn: the six steps required to manage a project schedule, how to draw a network diagram, the principle of rolling wave planning, how to estimate the resources and duration of your project, and the principles of float and resource leveling. 

This project scheduling book is available for download in PDF format.

This eBook explains why most of the factors that determine whether an interview is a positive experience or an ordeal are decided well before the interview itself and what you can do to make your interview a success.The first step in preparation is to check that the role and the organization are a good match with your own skills, character, and values. You can do this by looking at the organization's website, mission statement, and promotional literature as well as the job ad. It is better to apply for a few suitable jobs and to prepare properly than to apply for dozens, prepare poorly, and hope for a lucky break.

In this eBook, you will learn: what research you need to do before applying for a job and where to find the information, how building up a rapport with a respected employment agency can get you into interviews you would otherwise miss out on, what competency-based questions are and why they are such an essential part of the management interview process, how to use the job ad, role description, and employee specification to identify and rank the required job competencies, and how to match your existing competencies to those you have identified as being essential for the role and identify any weaknesses.

This interview skills book is available for download in PDF, Kindle and ePub format.

Competency-based questions are behavioral questions, in which the interviewer will ask you to describe a situation which demonstrates your abilities that will be integral to the role you're applying for. Organizations use a competency framework that reflects the competencies and associated behaviors that are required at each level of management. 

In this eBook, you will learn: how to recognize competency-based questions and how to relate them to an organization's competency framework, how to use the STAR method, which describes: the Situation, the Task required as a result, the Action taken, and the Result of that action, how to use the SOARA method, which describes: Situation, Objective, Action, Results, and Aftermath, how to pre-plan answers that ensure you give the best possible example of a particular behavior, and how to formulate a narrative that works well as an answer to a competency-based question.

This interview questions book is available for download in PDF format.

Your success in an interview relies on your ability to demonstrate that you have the Capability, Commitment, and Compatibility to perform the role effectively. These are often referred to as the '3Cs'. If you have not prepared properly you can find yourself on the defensive, trying to justify yourself in the face of tough questions rather than having the chance to 'sell' your benefits.

In this eBook, you will learn: the three fundamental things that you must convince the interviewer about if you want the job, how to categorize questions in a way that ensures your answer ticks the right box, the key behaviors you need to impress the interviewer, including how to deal with disagreement, why you need to pay particular attention to questions about your self-image, and what questions to ask the interviewer to demonstrate that you understand the issues and responsibilities you will face in the role.

This interview questions book is available for download in PDF format.

The objective of coaching to encourage people to solve problems for themselves rather than referring them back up to their manager. In fact, managers who coach tend to place a lot of emphasis on developing the people reporting to them, and on creating an environment where people can perform as independently as possible. 

This free eBook will give you an understanding of the coaching principles you will need to run a successful coaching program. It discusses the use of external coaches and the issues that confront managers who act as coaches to their own team. It describes key aspects of coaching including: active listening, building rapport, asking questions, demonstrating empathy, using intuition, goal setting and giving feedback.

In this eBook, you will learn: what coaching can achieve for your team, the differences between coaching, training, mentoring and counseling, how to establish the right mindset for effective coaching, the advantages and disadvantages of internal, external, formal and informal coaching, and the key principles of successful management coaching in the workplace.​

This coaching skills book is available for download in PDF, Kindle and ePub format.

It is a good idea to become familiar with the models available and then to use your own judgment about which of them to use and when. Not all coaching sessions need a model and you will need to be flexible in your approach. This eBook describes three well-known coaching models: GROW, TGROW, and OSKAR. 

Regardless of the coaching model you decide to use, the culture and ethos of your own organization will have an impact on your ability to perform as a coach. Some organizations may lack an understanding of the value of coaching, not see it as a priority, or have a low level of coaching skills and experience available within the organization. These are issues that you need to consider and assess how extensive they are when deciding if coaching is the best way to develop your staff. If there are too many obstacles then you may find that attempting to use coaching will have a detrimental rather than a motivational effect.

You will learn how to: use active listening techniques to demonstrate genuine interest in the coachee, ask different types of question to focus attention, elicit new ideas, encourage exploration and foster commitment, develop rapport and give feedback in a way that is positive and non-judgmental, use the GROW, TGROW and OSKAR models in a practical coaching session with a team member, and recognize and overcome organizational barriers to coaching.​

This coaching skills book is available for download in PDF format.

This eBook explains all of the basic accounting concepts and terminology you will need to understand the three primary financial statements that appear in every organization's annual report and most internal monthly reports as well. You should make sure that you know the basic concepts and terminology needed to understand income statements, balance sheets, and statements of cash flow as these are widely used, even by nonprofit organizations.

In this eBook, you will learn: the precise meaning of the essential accounting terms, the purpose of the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement, the differences between cash based and accrual based accounting, the 'revenue recognition' principle and the 'matching' principle, and how depreciation, prepayments and bad debt are allowed for.

This finance skills book is available for download in PDF, Kindle and ePub format.

The ability to understand a balance sheet is a key management skill that you will use more and more as your career progresses and you need to make decisions based on financial information. The balance sheet, together with the income statement and cash flow statement, make up the cornerstone of any organization's financial statements.

The main concept of a balance sheet is that total assets must equal the liabilities plus the equity of the company at a specified time. A balance sheet shows what tools are available to an organization to remain profitable. It is the only financial statement that relates to specific point in time and not a period of time. It can be presented either in Report or Account format.

In this eBook, you will learn: exactly how assets, liabilities and equity are defined and documented, how to use a balance sheet to determine an organization's liquidity and solvency, how the balance sheet and other key financial documents fit together, how to perform a vertical and horizontal common size analyses to detect changes in an organization's financial status, and how to assess the ability of an organization's management by using key financial ratios.

This finance skills book is available for download in PDF format.

The primary purpose of the income statement is to report an organization's earnings to investors over a specific period of time. It can also be used to judge how well the organization is managed financially; decide the type of investment opportunity it presents; make comparisons with its competitors; and assess its operating performance.

In this eBook you will learn: how an income statement is prepared and what it can tell you, the importance of transaction timing and how it influences the income statement totals, how to use accounting standards to help you define operating and non-operating expenses, how to use income statements to measure financial performance against expectations, and how to compare income statements for different sized organizations. 

This finance skills book is available for download in PDF format.

There are three types of presentation that you as a manager will need to make as part of your normal responsibilities: to your team, to senior management, and to other groups. Presentations to your own team are usually low-key events that don't justify much preparation but which still need to be clear and concise. Presentations to senior management usually involve reporting progress or making recommendations. Presentations to other groups often justify significant preparation because you are usually aiming to change the audience's perceptions or behavior. 

One of the most important management skills to develop is the ability to quickly plan and structure a presentation so that you can give a strong performance even when you have minimal time in which to prepare it. This free eBook describes a simple four-step process that you can use to create a presentation plan, whether you are making a formal presentation to senior management or a routine presentation to your own team.

In this eBook, you will learn: the importance of creating an aim statement to help you focus on what to include in your presentation, the key facts you need to find out about your audience before you begin, how to define your key message statement and why this is such an important step, how to produce an outline scope as efficiently as possible, and how to quickly draft your content so that you can go forward into the preparation phase. 

This presentation skills book is available for download in PDF, Kindle and ePub format.

This eBook follows on from 'Planning a Presentation,' which explained how to create an outline plan based on your aim, audience, key message statement, and the key points that support this message. It explains how to decide exactly what you are going to say and how to structure the key points. The competencies you display during presentations can help your career prospects, particularly if you can show that you are a persuasive speaker. 

In this eBook, you will learn: how to orientate the audience so that they are on board from the beginning of your presentation, why repetition of your key message is so important and how to incorporate it into your presentation structure, how to use the five-stage format and the concept of transitions to structure your content, how to draft, edit, and organize the main body of your presentation in the most efficient way possible, and how to write a compelling introduction, summary, and conclusion that will keep the audience focused on your key message.

This presentation skills book is available for download in PDF format.

This free eBook explains how to deliver your presentation in a way that will keep the audience engaged from the beginning to the final conclusion. It follows on from 'Planning a Presentation' and 'Preparing a Presentation,' which explain how to organize your material in a way that works as a presentation to an audience.

In this ebook, you will learn how to: develop a persuasive delivery style that demonstrates ownership of the key message, eliminate any verbal mannerisms you may have and to use positive body language and eye contact to engage the audience, read the audience so that you can set the pace of your delivery to match their understanding, prevent your presentation being hijacked by an unexpected or controversial question from the audience, and manage the question and answer session so that people feel that your presentation was important and relevant.

This presentation skills book is available for download in PDF format.

Research suggests that the average amount of time that people spend on any single event before being interrupted or before switching tasks is about three minutes. To arrive at this fugure Gloria Mark, Ph.D., associate professor at the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of California shadowed 36 managers, financial analysts, software developers, engineers, and project leaders for three days.

Interruptions are a major productivity killer and it can be very difficult to protect yourself from them whilst maintaining a good working relationship with your colleagues and external partners, for example customers and suppliers. This free eBook describes the tactics you can use to protect yourself from interruptions without alienating others. 

In this eBook you will learn: how to develop a strategy for dealing with incoming calls including cold calls, how to 'close out' phone calls politely once they have achieved their purpose, the importance of body language in dissuading people from interrupting you, why constant email checking is such a widespread problem and how to tackle it, and the importance of dealing with your outbound calls and emails methodically. 

This time management skills book is available for download in PDF, Kindle and ePub format.

There are time management tools available for planning, scheduling, task prioritizing, monitoring, and much more besides. Some of these tools are technology-based whilst others need nothing more than a pencil and paper. This free eBook explains how to choose the best tools for your own particular needs and describes how to use them to boost your productivity. 

Time management tools are useful but they are no substitute for adopting the right behaviors. In this eBook, you will learn: how to perform ABC Analysis and Pareto Analysis to prioritize tasks, the advantages of a closed to do list and when to use one, how to integrate productivity-boosting software tools into your work practices, and why you should consider monitoring software to control productivity killers. 

This time management book is available for download in PDF format.

There is no other skill that will increase your productivity to the same degree as being able to delegate successfully. As a specific skill, delegation is one that becomes increasingly more important as you progress through levels of management and will greatly increase your own productivity.

In this eBook, you will learn: why delegation is one of the most important management skills you can master, how to decide whether or not a task is suitable for delegation, the ten rules of successful delegation that will motivate and empower your team, how to accurately monitor delegated tasks and avoid the over-reporting trap, and the six questions you need to ask in order to develop your delegation skills. 

This time management book is available for download in PDF format.

This free eBook explains the basic principles of communication so that you can create an open and honest communications environment in any situation. Each person's communication style is a unique combination of their own innate skills and those learned both formally and through experience. What makes some people better than others at communicating is their ability to adapt their style to suit the message, environment, and exchange.

You will learn how to: determine your own preferred communication style, use this information to develop and enhance your communication skills, identify and respond appropriately to other people's emotions, apply the six components of the RESULT communications principle, and overcome the most common barriers to successful communication. 

This communication skills book is available for download in PDF, Kindle and ePub format.

Active listening is a straightforward technique that you can use to improve your communication skills. It involves listening for meaning, in a neutral and non-judgmental way. Active listening will reduce the chance of misunderstandings, help to solve problems, and allow you to take advantage of opportunities you may have previously missed.

In this eBook you will learn: why it is so important to actively listen, the six aspects of listener orientation you should adopt, how to use reflection and clarification in the context of active listening, how to overcome the internal barriers to effective active listening, and how to integrate different types of questioning into active listening. 

This communication skills book is available for download in PDF format.

Conference calls play a major role in an organization's communications, both internal and external. Discussions via conference calls enable collective decisions to be made in real time regardless of the country that each individual decision maker is in. You need to encourage proper use of this 'tool' so that it improves productivity and does not become just another type of unstructured and unproductive meeting.

In this eBook you will learn: why conference calls present problems that normal telephone calls do not, what advance planning you can undertake to get the most out of each call, why published guidelines can dramatically improve everyone's experience of conference calls, why each call needs a simple agenda and what information it should contain, and the advantages of having a named facilitator with clearly defined responsibilities.

This communication skills book is available for download in PDF format.

Successful team leadership has more to do with making a success of the team you have been given, rather than building an ideal team from scratch. This free eBook explains the core principles of team leadership that will help you get the best out of any team that you find yourself managing. 

You will learn how to apply these leadership principles to three different types of team. Firstly, a project team where, even though you are not an expert in all of the technical aspects of the project, you are still expected to coordinate the team's efforts. Secondly, a support team where there are problems with motivation and high staff turnover. Finally, a high-level strategic team where you do not have any direct authority over the other participants. 

This leadership skills book is available for download in PDF, Kindle and ePub format.

This eBook describes the ten most popular contemporary leadership theories. You can use these as inspiration and a potential toolkit from which you can develop your own leadership style based on your own personality, the task at hand and the team that you are leading. 

One of the great challenges when it comes to proper leadership is balancing the various interests of those who you are required to lead. Not everyone is going to have the same goals and aspirations, even within the same business or organization. Therefore, it is the job of a good leader to reconcile all of those various interests and bring them together in a way that keeps the team working in the right direction. With good leadership, it is possible to bring everyone together in a common pursuit even if they have divergent goals among themselves. 

This leadership theories book is available for download in PDF format.

This eBook describes the ten most popular contemporary leadership models. You can use these as inspiration and a potential toolkit from which you can develop your own leadership style based on your own personality, the task at hand and the team that you are leading. 

The role of 'manager' sound simple enough, but anyone who has ever served as a manager knows that it is far more complex than it might sound at first. Being a leader in any organization is a complicated and challenging task that can take on a variety of forms depending on the needs of the organization and the people that are being led. 

This leadership models book is available for download in PDF format.