Behind Closed Doors

Secrets of Great Management

by Johanna Rothman and Esther Derby

Great management is difficult to see as it occurs. Great management happens in one-on-one meetings and with other managers—all in private. It’s hard to learn management by example when you can’t see it.

Find out what goes on Behind Closed Doors and see how a skilled manager turns around a tricky management situation in seven weeks. You’ll learn how to provide and use feedback effectively, and become a better coach and mentor peers and team members. As you begin to build a cohesive, “jelled” team you’ll learn how to use your influence across the organization and make better choices daily to survive and thrive.

NEW: Join Esther Derby and Johana Rothman in an online course about one-on-ones. The course builds on material in the book, adding more depth. The course helps you see your options for how and when to conduct one-on-ones, especially if you’re using agile approaches. Once you enroll, you’ll receive an invitation to a dedicated Slack team. You can ask questions, offer your experiences, and learn from others.

For more information and to register visit their site at https://yourmanagementmentors.teachable.com/p/make-the-most-of-one-on-one-meetings

See All of Johanna’s books

You can learn to be a better manager—even a great manager—with this guide. You’ll follow along as Sam, a manager just brought on board, learns the ropes and deals with his new team over the course of his first seven weeks on the job. From organizing who works on what project when, to helping team members grow and prosper, you’ll be there as Sam makes it happen. You’ll find powerful tips covering:

• Delegating effectively
• Using feedback and goal-setting
• Developing influence
• Handling one-on-one meetings
• Coaching and mentoring
• Deciding what work to do-and what not to do
• …and more.

Full of tips and practical advice on the most important aspects of management, this is one of those books that can make a lasting and immediate impact on your career.

• Errata, typos, suggestions

Releases:

• P7.0 2014/03/28
• P6.0 2010/09/28
• P2.0 2006/09/06
• P1.0 2005/08/31

• Table of Contents
• Introduction and Excerpt from Week One
• Excerpts from Week Six
• Excerpts from Techniques
• Listen to the Fable of the Rising Young Manager.
• Listen to excerpts from Week One.

Johanna Rothman consults, speaks, and writes on managing high-technology product development. She’s helped managers, teams, and organizations to become more effective by applying her pragmatic approaches to their issues of hiring, project management, risk management, and people management. Johanna is the author of Predicting the Unpredictable: Pragmatic Approaches to Estimating Project Schedule or Cost, Manage Your Job Search, Hiring Geeks That Fit, Manage Your Project Portfolio: Increase Your Capacity and Finish More Projects, Manage It! Your Guide to Modern Pragmatic Project Management, Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management (with Esther Derby), and Hiring the Best Knowledge Workers, Techies & Nerds: The Secrets and Science of Hiring Technical People.

Esther Derby is one of the rare breed of consultants who blends the technical and managerial issues with the people-side issues. She is well known for her work helping teams grow to new levels of productivity and is recognized as one of the world’s leaders in retrospective facilitation. Esther’s articles have appeared in Better Software (formerly STQE), Software Development, Cutter IT Journal, and CrossTalk. She writes regular columns for stickyminds.com and Computerworld.com, and publishes the quarterly newsletter, insights. Esther is also a host and session leader at the Amplifying Your Effectiveness (AYE) conference.