Product Description

A practical, comprehensive introduction to good management for everyone who has responsibility for organising, co-ordinating or making decisions about a voluntary organisation, team, department or project. Like the earlier versions, this new edition will remain the 'management bible' for management committee members, managers, project or team leaders and for students on the many voluntary sector management courses running throughout the country.
Just about managing? is a companion to Voluntary but not Amateur: A guide to the law for voluntary organisations and community groups, also published by LVSC and together they tell you almost everything you might need to know about setting up and running a voluntary or community organisation.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #352790 in Books
• Published on: 2006-01-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 231 pages

From the Author
When the first edition of Just about managing? was published in 1989, I had no idea that generations of managers and management committee members, new to management and/or new to the voluntary and community sector, would come to rely on it as their 'management bible'. Many of those who kept it always to hand as they moved into management or governance have now moved on to senior roles in larger voluntary organisations or in the public or commercial sector, but many tell me they still refer back to JAM when they need reassurance or a quick review of basic good practice.
For people new to management committees or management positions in the small and medium-sized organisations for which this book is intended, or appointed as team or project leaders in larger organisations, this fourth edition of JAM continues to provide a sensible introduction to good governance and management practice. Firmly rooted in the values and day-to-day reality of the voluntary and community sector, it is realistic about the problems faced by small and medium-sized organisations, and optimistic about what voluntary and community organisations and the people who manage them can achieve.
The thousands of voluntary and community groups with which I have worked and the thousands of people I have trained may recognise in these pages their problems and solutions. I am grateful to all these groups and individuals for their commitment and insight, and for letting me share their experience.

From the Inside Flap
Are you muddling through, making do, just about managing? The fourth edition of this ever popular book will help you manage in a planned, coherent way that will increase the effectiveness of your organisation and its management committee, managers, paid staff and volunteers.
It will help you be just about managing, dealing with management issues and problems with a concern for justice, fairness, respect and individual commitment.
And it is just about managing. It covers many topics, ranging from teamwork to training, but they are all directly related to good management.

About the Author
Sandy Adirondack has been a freelance trainer and consultant in the voluntary sector since 1980, specialising in governance and legal topics and working primarily with community-based and user-based organisations. Before that she worked as a social psychologist and editor, and was co-ordinator of a national campaigning organisation.

Customer Reviews

A must-have for voluntary sector managers blagging it
Adirondack designed this book to be 100% practical and academic free, so it's accessible to workers of whatever background or experience.

It's handly split into managable chunks so that you can dip in and out for a bit of advice on, for example, 'fundraising' one day, 'meetings' the next and 'how to run supervision' for workers on another occasion.

I was first recommended it as the book to buy for a module on management which I was taking as part of a youth and community work degree. I would *highly* recommend the same to others. If you are going to buy one book, this one covered everything I needed: models of leadership, different structures of management - that sort of thing, useful for quoting - as well as practical tips for applying to my practice as a youth and community worker.

The one warning I would give, is that as Adirondack covers a wide breath of management issues within it, it may be a little simplistic for the seasoned manager of a larger organisation.

Instead, it is ideal for the new manager, without specialised training. Even an experienced, but untrained, manager may find useful tips for efficient management.

From a volunteers viewpoint
I found this book a great help in my studies as a volunteer student, it outlines key concepts and introduces the reader to many different areas of not only volunteer managment but managment in general. It outlines the how to's of voluntary managment in an easy to understand way and throughout the book provides useful links where the reader can obtain more information on any given area within the book. Everything from appraisals to VAT and equal opportunities to recuitment is covered, no area of managment is missed out.

This book is a must for all volunteer managers.

Really useful for students and practitioners alike.
Excellent book for managers within the third sector. Written in laymans' terms hence easy to understand.