Book Review: First Among Equals: How to Manage a Group of Professionals

Joe Wynne is a versatile Project Manager experienced in delivering medium-scope projects in large organizations that improve workforce performance and business processes. He has a proven track record of delivering effective, technology-savvy solutions in a variety of industries and a unique combination of strengths in both process management and workforce management.

 

You, like most other project managers, have probably struggled with your communication and interaction skills. You may have tried taking classes, been coached, watched videotapes, role-played and read articles. Yet, if you were like most, after all this you were still not able to solve your most intractable problems with people in the groups you manage.

This is partly because these classes and resources have not really been designed to meet your specific needs. They may have targeted supervisors in general, using safe, vanilla problem-solving strategies, sometimes based on the assumption that you are supervising employees with 1-2 years experience and low authority in the organization. They may have assumed you were a CEO or VP, with power and authority to change the organization by mandate. These resources were not designed to help you manage a group in today's work environment. So all your frustrations are not your fault after all!

At long last, there is an answer. First Among Equals by Patrick McKenna and David Maister has been specifically written for those unfortunate individuals who must manage groups of professionals. It concentrates on the unique issues that must be addressed in planning and problem-solving, so that you can get desired results. The authors have done an excellent job of compiling best practices and presenting this information in a way that is most …

Please log in or sign up below to read the rest of the article.