How to Become a Better Manager in Social Work and Social Care: Essential Skills for Managing Care(Essential Skills for Social Work Managers)

Social work and social care managers often find themselves in management positions without having had any formal management training, yet skills and knowledge specific to social care settings are essential for effective practice. This book offers a researched and practical guide to the fundamental skills and knowledge that a manager needs, underpinned by the values and ethics that are inherent to social work and social care. Core skills covered include time management, recruitment, managing meetings, working in partnership with service users, negotiation and conflict management, and mentoring and coaching. A self-improvement feedback assessment is included, and the book features learning activities, practical tools, case examples, summaries and action checklists. This must-have handbook will help social work and social care managers and students to understand and accomplish the core skills needed for excellent management practice.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements. Series editor's foreword. 1. Becoming and being an effective manager: Essential skills and more. 2. Managing yourself and managing others: Never enough time in the day. 3. Skills for managing change: Everything's changed but what's different? 4. Recruiting and selection: Getting the right colleagues and striving towards happiness. 5. Managing meetings: Being a smooth operator. 6. Skills in collaboration and networking: Building up successful partnerships for service user involvement. 7. Skilful negotiation and conflict management: What about the tricky bits? 8. Effective mentoring and coaching: Skills in developing others. Appendices. References. Contributors' information.

About the Author :
Trish Hafford-Letchfield is Senior Lecturer in Social Work and Teaching Fellow in Interprofessional Learning at Middlesex University, UK. She has substantial experience as a manager in social care and in management and social work education. She is author of Social Care Management, Strategy and Business Planning, published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Les Gallop is an independent consultant and trainer, and has many years experience in social work, social work management and training.

Review :
I found this book really valuable and expect to use it as a point of reference on a regular basis and would highly recommend its purchase to all social work and social care manager. I have always thought that the most important role, with most impact on practice and practitioners, is being a front-line manager. It is also a role which requires a difficult identity transition from being a peer within a team to having clear managerial and leadership responsibilities. This book reflects on and tackles this role change. Its focus, which is very practical but well-informed by models of management and research, is on the competencies and behaviours required by managers generally but with an immediate relevance for front-line managers. It provides many opportunities for reflection and for self-learning. I would have wanted to have had this book available as I became a front-line manager and as a social services director I would have wanted to ensure it was available to all my new managerial colleagues. Good front line managers are key to effective outcomes for service users through their roles in supervising, supporting and inspiring social work and social care practitioners. This book provides a comprehensive toolkit to support managers in this critical role, using a range of activities and checklists, including the use of skills auditing frameworks, and discusses the benefits of proactively seeking continuous feedback from others. Learning to be a better manager and leader is an ongoing process and this book offers assistance and insight for all our individual journeys. As a senior manager, I welcome this series of practical books specifically written about social work and social care management. They should be essential reading for all front line managers across any organisation or agency in social care.