Confessions of an UnManager: Ten Steps to Jump Start Company Performance by Getting Others to Accept Accountability [Paperback] Debra Boggan and Anna VerSteeg

This book is chock full of information on how to increase productivity by getting the most out of cross functional and empowered teams. Confessions of an UnManager reveals a management and leadership system of effective leadership that led to an increase in profits of 50% at a Nortel plant by getting everyone at the plant to accept accountability for success or failure. Moreover, quality defects and customer complaints were cut dramatically.

Written in the form of a novel, the book shows how the old fashioned dictatorial style of management was successfully replaced with one that included a leadership style that broke down the barriers between management and employees, instilling esprit de corps and a sense of accountability that turned into a huge success for the business unit. Perhaps more than anything, it was team building and the new sense of accountability throughout the organization that led to big gains in productivity and an emphasis on customer service that paid off in dramatic sales increases. Empowered teams in each department proved so effective that cross functional teams were formed to cut through bureaucratic red tape and solve problems in record time. If you're interested in a management system that empowers workers, leads to huge gains in productivity, replaces an ineffective bureaucracy with cross-functional teams, as well as a management system that leads to customer service that delights customers, then this book is for you. Team building techniques and a style of management are made vivid and clear through entertaining, practical examples, and real-life anecdotes. Shown are both the triumphs and the difficulties associated with a major shift away from the traditional ways of viewing the roles of managers and staff, and toward team building, cross functional teams, empowered workers, and a sense of esprit de corps and accountability among all that led to big increases in productivity and profitability.

Both are successful management consultants and partners in the firm, Competitive Solutions, Inc.