Key Management Questions: smart questions for every business situation

Behind every great executive decision lies a smart question. Ask yourself this. Faced with a new budget or strategic choice, a potential employee or a client negotiation, a bright idea or an intractable problem, what questions do you need to ask?  To test the projections, tackle the cause of problems, to make the right decision - the answer is simple. Ask the right question. Managers are all too often expected to lead with answers; to approach any situation armed with a company procedure or an off-the-shelf solution, but in an uncertain world, the right question is worth a world of standard answers. Asking the right question is the first step to understanding a business situation, and the first step to finding the right answer. Key Management Questions is your practical guide to intelligent management analysis and inquiry. It sets out searching questions to ask of your business, your colleagues and yourself - from shaping strategies to persuading people - and tells you where to find many of the answers. With this book you can make who, what, where, how andwhy your most effective business tools. In this practical guide Tom Lambert will help you to ask smarter business questions, of yourself, your business, your colleagues and your business partners, and across a full range of business challenges. Who are our most profitable customers? Who are our weakest competitors? What kind of managers do we need? Is this choice the best use of our resources? How long is the payback period? Discover the art of good questioning, and learn smart questions to ask about:   Vision and mission People, purpose and performance Collaboration and culture Strategy and leadership Solving business problems Making business choices Finance and business performance Markets, selling and marketing Influence and persuasion Technology and e-business Change and transformation Learning and development Choosing and using consultants The answers that you find will take you closer to the real drivers of your business.  

Table of Contents:
 CONTENTS  Introduction: You Deserve State of the Art It's A Question of Need  Why you need to have this book – but don’t need to read it!  The unique concept of the book is described and the reader is given guidance in its use.  Applied thought leadership requires the asking of the right questions of the right people at the right time. This book provides the essential questions and clear guidance on how to implement the answers to greatest effect. The killer question to be asked every time.  SECTION ONE: QUESTIONS TO DEAL WITH MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES  Chapter One: Achieving the Mission and Surviving Long Enough to Enjoy It! Strategy: Where Next?  Strategic questions that take you from where you are to where you want to be.  Tactics: Where Now?  Tactical questions that ensure that you survive long enough to get there.  Chapter Two: People Really Can Be an Asset Personal Questions to Improve Performance  Questions that enhance your people skills and that enable you to attract and retain the best.  Questions for superior interviewers. Questions that motivate. Questions to raise performance.  Questions that will protect you from Corporate Alzheimer’s and the Auschwitz Syndrome. Questions that will enable you to "right-size" any organisation. Questions to motivate and questions to reduce risk.  Chapter Three: Getting People to Work Together Questions of Culture and Cooperation  The essential questions that build your ability to create, nurture and manage teams.  The psychology of teamwork expressed as questions. What to ask and who to ask if you want to get things done. Questions to save you from the perils of "let my people go". Questions that make empowerment work.  Chapter Three: "Leadership is what Leaders DO!" Questions of Leadership  The indispensable questions that enable you to turn Churchill’s aphorism into a success formula. Questions that ensure that you can be flexible and consistent simultaneously. Questions that will give you control in all situations. Questions that will give you time to think.  Chapter Four; Communicate Questions to Ensure the "Transfer of Meaning"  Questions to perfect your internal communication.  Questions to deal with the media.  Questions that get people to "build bridges below the waterline.  Chapter Five: "Forget Your Problem – Give Me Your Solution"  Questions to analyse any problem and develop the best solutions. Questions to pre-empt potential problems and keep the plan on track. Questions that will get your people eager to be problem solvers. Questions that give you the advantages and protect you from the pitfalls of consensus. Questions that raise creativity.  Chapter Six: Decisions, Decisions Which one?  Questions that lead to speedy and effective decision-making. In a world in which the business cycle spins ever-faster fast and efficient thinking is the key difference between success and failure. This chapter provides the questions to speed decision-making in the real world.  Chapter Seven: It’s a Matter of Money How much is too much? A Question of Numbers  Questions that enable the non-specialist to easily understand the world of finance. Questions that build revenues and profits. Questions that ensure that financial resources are applied effectively and frugally. Questions that ensure that when you need to spend you spend to best effect. Questions that get the best out of your bankers.  Chapter Eight: You Can Buck the Market! What if?  Key questions that will enable you to exploit market opportunities at home and abroad. Essential questions for when there is a downturn. Questions that enable you to identify growth and explo

About the Author :
Tom Lambert is an international author, broadcaster, consultant, trainer, conference speaker and business journalist who is called, in America, "the world's friendliest guru". In Europe and Southern Africa his books and seminars have led him to be called by the quality press, "the consultant's consultant". He is the author of Key Management Solutions, The Power of Influence and High Income Consulting. You can connect with Tom at www.tom-lambert.com and www.business-minds.com

Review :
"It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers." " James Thurber "Computers are useless. They can only give you answers." " Pablo Picasso