The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Parliamentary Procedure Fast-Track (©2012, Alpha Books), by Jim Slaughter, PRP, CPP-T, JD, is a short, to-the-point book that focuses on smaller meetings, including board and executive committees, and provides details on the most used motions and general advice for shortening meetings. Among the topics covered are:
- What procedures are best suited for large assemblies;
- When relaxed procedures may be appropriate for a smaller group or board;
- Simple suggestions for making, seconding, and debating motions, plus advice on frequently used motions from Robert’s Rules of Order;
- A primer on voting, from knowing when it’s required, to breaking ties, to handling absentee and proxy votes;
- Straightforward strategies for setting and sticking to an agenda;
- Efficiently recording your meeting’s minutes;
- Tips for handling disruptive members and tyrannical change; and
- Changes from last year’s revisions to Robert’s Rules of Order.
With the rise of modern technology, corporate management began to shift its focus from relying on the unique attributes of its people toward placing greater emphasis on profitability and the bottom line. Although this shift seemed pragmatic, it has led to a significant number of problems between management and employees in the. The Missing Human Factor: How To Help Employees Work For You Or With You (©2012, Efficient Energy USA), by Fillippo Galluppi, addresses the benefits of a renewed commitment to evaluating employees beyond numbers, quotes, and sales goals. Among the topics covered:
- Simple ways managers and executives can motivate their employees to increase their organizational output;
- Ways to encourage two-way dialogue between employees and their managers to improve organizational communication;
- How to create an enjoyable work environment and culture for employees to maximize their overall productivity;
- Why the basic functions of an organization need to be managed effectively to achieve results; and
- Keys to overcoming challenges in motivating and encouraging innovation in employees.
The way we engage in meaningful social change is being fundamentally altered by technology. One of the beauties of social media is that they help us expand our reache dramatically. Measuring the Networked Nonprofit: Using Data to Change the World (©2012, Jossey-Bass), by Beth Kanter and Katie Paine helps nonprofit leaders better determine our impact. How do we know how many people we are reaching? What types of messages are grabbing people’s attention and which ones are falling on deaf ears? How do we assess the effectiveness of a social media campaign? The book instructs on how to use social media metrics to improve decision making and quantify success and covers the ways that nonprofits make the most of measuring, including the following list of what they do right:
- They don’t just add up numbers, they measure their impact on the mission and organizational goals;
- They value progress and measure results using insight, relationships, organizational results, and social change outcomes;
- They use key performance indicators to make decisions, effect continuous process improvement, and understand what works and what doesn’t;
- They measure failure first;
- They are experts at setting up and measuring low-risk experiments to test their strategy and tactics and learn form them;
- They use data to set priorities and better juggle workloads.
Leaders are often called upon to make large, significant improvements to their organizations—to cut costs, create new member products and services, improve service, reduce mistakes. Yet change management can seem insurmountable. The Spirit of Kaizen: Creating Lasting Excellence One Small Step at a Time (©2012, McGraw Hill), by Robert Maurer, PhD, explains the principles of kaizen, a Japanese word that literally means “good change.” The book focuses on essentials for change: removing mental blindfolds; managing stress associated with change; dealing with people; and removing the fear associated with change.
The workplace of the future is being shaped today by Web 2.0—a collection of breakthrough social media technologies—and by the Millennial Generation, people born between 1977 and 1997. The convergence of these emerging workplace trends has created a generation of hyperconnected workers who are placing increased pressure on employers to overhaul their approach to talent management. In The 2020 Workplace (©2010 Harper Collins), by Jeanne C. Meister and Karie Willyerd offer a practical game plan companies can use to attract and keep these employees, and, in doing so, transform their organizations; achieve compelling business results, such as increased innovation and improved customer connectedness; and compete more effectively in the global marketplace. The book shows how the social technologies that are used outside the association in marketing to connect with members can be adapted for inside the organization for connecting with staff.