The One Minute Manager Builds High Performing Teams

Customer Reviews

all books should be like this one

2006-11-30
Short, straight-to-the point, wise book. This is exactly what I needed for increasing the productivity of the team I manage.

one minute manager builds performing teams, the rev

2006-03-10
great reference and information in one concise format.

A useful resource for team development

2005-01-16
I was referred to the One Minute Manager series when I asked someone I considered an excellent manager if he could recommend some management resources. The One Minute Manager Builds High Performing Teams was my first introduction to the series.

The book is written as a conversation between the One Minute Manager (a nameless, faceless character), a curious manager named Dan, and a human resource manager named Maria who brought up the question of how to manage teams versus individuals.

The print is large and there are only a few paragraphs per page, making it quick and easy reading, especially for those who only have time to read a small segment at a time. The dialogues are occasionally dull and a bit pedantic, but the messages come through clearly. And these messages, how to diagnose the development stage a team is currently in and which management style is appropriate for each stage of development, are usual analysis tools for anyone leading a group. The messages from the book can also easily be identified and passed on to group members through a short presentation.

A worthwhile book to look at for anyone wanting to improve team motivation, productivity and functioning.

Excellent!

2004-08-22
This book gives a great overview of team stages and the simple idea of situational management based on team progress. Excellent!

Simple, fun superficial read

2004-01-26
Kenneth Blanchard turns his attention to small group dynamics and group performance in this, on of the stable of One Minute Manager books.

Academically, the two principal concepts that Blanchard and his co-authors use, are the stages of group development and Situational Leadership. The familiar stages of forming, storming, norming and performing are termed orientation, dissatisfaction, integration and production. Situational Leadership in this context refers to changing leadership styles according to the stage of the group, thereby filling in for process tasks that the group is unable to accomplish for itself.

Groups tend to start in a high-energy, high motivation but low skills and understanding mode of operation. In this stage, directive leadership provides the structure necessary to move forward. The second stage is one of dissatisfaction, questioning of leadership and clarification of roles. As unpleasant as this stage is, we are reminded that conflicts cannot be resolved if they are avoided. A resolving attitude on the part of the leader is exactly what is needed. As confidence and morale return to the group members, they pass hesitatingly into a third stage, termed integration. In this stage, commitment on goals, roles and tasks increases, as well as to the norms, values and processes of the group. A collaborating leadership style that allows control to be shared and facilitates the surfacing of disagreements is critical to the group's continued growth. Finally, the production stage is characterized by high levels of trust, morale, energy and empowerment. The team can pretty much function autonomously, without a leader whose primary purpose is to validate.

Blanchard's strength is his manner of presentation and clarity of relating ideas from disparate sources. The book is a quick read and yet it presents some fairly profound concepts, connecting the dots in a way that reading a collection of "Harvard Business Review" articles can never accomplish. Most of the book is a conversation between Dan Brockway, the director of training at a chemical company, and his mentor, The One Minute Manger. The coordinator of customer service programs, Maria Sanchez, disagrees with the presentation of material for The Essentials of Management course that Dan is coordinating.

Instead of helping Dan convince her that she is wrong, The One Minute Manger allows Dan to observe the functioning of four groups at different stages of development at his own company. The gradual, real-world exposition of the central issues of group dynamics leads into three-way discussions between Dan, Maria and the Manager about the practicalities, pitfalls and variations in group development. The goal is to produce what Blanchard and others have called "Highly-Effective Teams", effectively defined in the early pages.

The intent of the book is to teach and, with two educational doctorates as co-authors, the structure and style is simple to read and flows so logically that it is as easy to digest as Jello. A busy manager can read this book in a single New York commute and keep revisiting it as needed, while his teams evolve. Students can learn and integrate new concepts more fruitfully, as they learn how the pieces all fit together. Participants in teams can quickly get a sense of what they need to do to effectively contribute to the tasks at had, which inevitably include the processes that the group uses to get things done. Anyone reading this book is well advised to realize that this is a brief synopsis and oversimplification of group dynamics and leadership styles. Extended discussions of roles played by participants in dysfunctional groups and extensive elaboration of Situational leadership are found elsewhere and should be referenced when necessary. In the end, drawing on all our creativity and individual knowledge and experience is the path to generating value in a knowledge economy.

Wonderful book 2004-01-21

Never before in the history of the workplace has the concept of teamwork been more important to the functioning of successful organizations. Ken Blanchard, bestselling coauthor of Raving Fans, The One Minute Manager, and Gung Ho! teams up with Donald Carew and Eunice Parisi-Carew to explain how all groups move through four stages of development on their way to becoming high performing teams -- orientation, dissatisfaction, integration, and production. The authors then show how a manager can help any group to become fully effective quickly and with hardly any stress.

This valuable addition to The One Minute Manager® Library is essential for anyone who works with groups and wants to build a high performing team.

Twenty Minute Bath

2004-01-17
I read this while I was soaking in the bathtub last night. It reads a lot like The Tenth Insight series - easy to follow, pretty simplistic. I chose this book because I have been observing the group process in many different contexts and because I am currently struggling with managing a brand new membership committee at church, as well as a new team at work. This book provides a good hook on which to hang team-building concepts.
The team management principles are easy to apply to the church Membership Committee. I have a lot of autonomy in management at church. I can decide without going through the hierarchy (church board) how to conduct this committee. They are very happy for me to decide how leadership is provided and how group meetings will happen.
One Minute Manager's "Group Developmental Stage" concept includes the stages of Orientation, Dissatisfaction, Resolution and Production. These stages make sense to me and dovetail nicely with concepts of human developmental stages. The Membership Committee has only met once under my leadership and is obviously in the Orientation Stage. I wish I could jump over the next two stages and get right to the Production Stage. I am getting a lot of pressure from board members to produce all sorts of results. One Minute Manager has validated what I already knew about managing this team; we have to go through these stages, and I need to work on getting my style of leadership to match the team's developmental stage. It will take some time, and I will have to get some of the "production" done with little help from the team until this team growth happens.
However, management at work is a totally different situation. I am on several teams, but only have one leadership role so far. This is a newly organized group called the RAT (Rapid Assessment Team) charged with the initial emergency response at the District Public Health Level. I share responsibility for leadership of this group with my supervisor. So far we have had two organizational meetings and two training meetings. The One Minute Manager concepts will help me address a couple of issues I have been struggling with.
The first issue has to do with leadership of this group. In the Orientation Stage, a group needs clear messages from a clearly designated leader. I need to take responsibility for delivering these messages. I need to remember to observe the group interaction, including the content and process, so my leadership style can change with the group's changing needs.
I will also need to figure out how to balance my leadership style with my supervisor's leadership style. I tend to be more the "Low Supportive and Low Directive" type of leader. She tends to be a "High Supportive and Low Directive" type. In the Orientation Stage that this team is in, we need to provide High Directive and Low Supportive Behavior. Providing High Directive isn't a difficult change for me to make because as the trainer, I am responsible for teaching what and how to. As this group moves into the Dissatisfaction Stage, I need to encourage my supervisor to provide the High Supportive Behavior that she is good at. As we work together and make progress with this group, the One Minute Manager concepts will help us coordinate and balance our leadership.

Just in time

2002-10-31
This book has come to my aid at the most appropriate time. I am in the midst of an exercise, as a leader of an internal task force entrusted with the responsibility of recommending a solution in a short time. This group is heterogeneous, drawn from different departments with a common problem on hand.

The four stages of group behavior (orientation, dissatisfaction, integration, and production) as described in this book, and the different styles of leadership appropriate at each stage is very essential understanding for any manager. More than this it is important to diagnose the stage at which the group is in and what action the leader needs to take to lead the team quickly to the Production stage.

This is a must read for all managers who wish to understand group behavior - for achieving optimal output.

A clear start in understanding groups and team building 2000-07-06
The "One Minute Manager Builds High Performing Teams" delivers key concepts and strategies regarding group dynamics and team building in a quick-to-read, clear and concise form. In this respect the book is a cleverly crafted publication. If this was the aim of the authors (and I suspect it was) then it should be awarded 5 points. From my own point of view I'm left feeling that the analysis oversimplifies the processes of group dynamics and team building, and that in applying the analysis and strategies suggested my resulting awareness would leave me asking more questions that this text could answer. Of course in doing this, it would have made a great start!

Group dynamics, teamwork and leadership styles are complex interacting areas; but this book, purposely and successfully written as a quick-reader for all team members conveys the current thinking of these best-selling authors in an easily understandable and applicable form. Blanchard et al. mange to reduce the complexities to key points and make them relevant most directly, to business contexts. The conversational style of the book is written with regard to business projects and the key points and informative charts (though drawn from right to left, which seems rather odd for a mainly Western audience) convey the message well for such contexts.

The success of the book rests a good deal on its simplification of the subject matter, and omission of relevant concerns. The most notable to me was the exclusion of issues concerning influences of other 'roles' in group situations, aside from group leader. This topic was only briefly touched upon in relation to the stage of 'dissatisfaction' and the negative roles that are often developed. It would have been interesting to acknowledge the effect of various group-member roles at each of the four stages of group dynamics, and consider the position of group leader in relation to these.

Another area of further interest again reflects on the mainly Western audience. The issue of how people who have been taught to value individualism, self achievement, and personal self esteem, often to a greater extent than team-work, adapt to the values of working as a key member of a high performing team, is of much interest here. The skills and values developed in individualism are not necessarily the antithesis of those required for team building, as this text indicates; but the utilization and adaptation of such skills is certainly of relevance to building high performance teams.

In summary, this book is a great read if you need a quick overview of current thinking regarding the practicalities of teamwork and groups. If you want to understand more about such processes and practices, you'll only be starting here.

Simple, But Important Steps to Team-Based Success 2000-06-12
All of us know and can do more than any one of us. That's the logic that makes everyone understand the potential of teams. Just watch a championship sports team, and imagine trying to overcome them by yourself. Fat chance!

Yet when teams gets started, they often work less well than an individual. What's needed to get from here to there? That's what this book is all about.

A common problem is putting a team together, giving them a task, and waiting for the good results. That won't work. People have to have the right skills, knowledge, information, tools, and attitude to perform. That includes experience with working together on teams. For example, if you put a bunch of Internet-oriented people together on a team to play basketball against the Lakers, the results might not be too good for your new team. Bill Jenson's book, Simplicity, is a good resource on this point, as well.

This book does a good job of showing you how you can help the green team become the great team. If you want to enjoy more success in your enterprise, this book is essential reading.