Putting the One Minute Manager to Work

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.

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.