The Essentials of Management. Eddie Davies. Fenman, 1999. A4 ringbinder, ISBN 1 872483 71 2. £195 plus £4.90 carriage.

Although described as containing ’20 tried and tested activities’, this is not a collection of immediate training activities as the term is generally recognized. Instead it is much more, being much more than that. It is a collection of 20 sessions relating to the range of subjects contained in the pack. They are not, however, full-blown, expert-requiring sessions, rather ones that can be run by inexperienced trainers, line managers etc following the guidelines in each section.

The subject areas covered include essentials of management, decision making, recruiting and selecting, leadership, written communications, meetings, managing budgets, CPD, etc. Each ‘activity’ is in a format of purpose; application; what happens; time required; materials and resources; and a substantial ‘how to do it’. For the latter, for example using the activity ‘Decision Making’, the trainer introduces the subject using an OHP transparency; then with a further OHT points out what management is, with a discussion on reasons for adopting a systematic approach; participants then reflect on a recent decision they have made then work in small groups discussing these. The session continues with inputs, discussions and activities to cover the subject to a reasonable fullness. All OHP transparency masters and handouts are provided for each session, which require, for full use, times ranging from 2_ hours to 9 hours 35 mins.

This is a useful collection of session briefs for a range of management development topics, well capable of being modified to suit any particular requirements, but giving the basic materials. The format is clear and comprehensive and should be readily followed by the target reader/user.

Leslie Rae
July 1999