HBR Guide Series

Your inbox is overflowing. You're paralyzed because you have too much to do but don't know where to start. Your to-do list never seems to get any shorter. You leave work exhausted but have little to show for it. It's time to learn how to get the right work done. In the HBR Guide to Getting the Right Work Done, you'll discover how to focus your time and energy where they will yield the greatest reward. Not only will you end each day knowing you made progress—your improved productivity will also set you apart from the pack.

Whether you're starting a business from scratch or in an existing company facing new threats, this audiobook offers the direction you need. The HBR Guide to Setting Your Strategy provides practical tips and advice that break down the process of crafting strategy so you can identify the areas your company should build on and help it thrive long into the future.

Feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and short-tempered at work—and at home? Then you may have too much stress in your life. Stress is a serious problem that impacts not only your mental and physical health, but also your loved ones and your organization. So what can you do to address it? The HBR Guide to Managing Stress at Work will help you find a sustainable solution. It will help you reach the goal of getting on an even keel—and staying there.

While the idea of not working can be simultaneously wonderful and overwhelming, you can figure out what you want the end of your career and your retirement to look like before you submit your resignation. This book won't help you figure out whether or not you can afford to retire, but it will help you figure out what you'd like to do and who you'd like to be.

Virtual meetings. Video calls. Emails and chat messages. These technological conveniences can be helpful when you're working remotely. But the actual experience of getting your work done while remaining an effective part of a far-flung team can be frustrating. How can you make remote work work for you? The HBR Guide to Remote Work provides practical tips and advice to help you work more productively with your team and colleagues, even though you're not in the same location.

Strategic initiatives are where the rubber meets the road when it comes to putting strategy into action, and leading a critical initiative may be the key to propelling your career forward. Yet managing a cross-functional team on a high-profile project can present a multitude of challenges and risks, causing even the most experienced manager to struggle.

Creativity is the key driver of innovation, but too many teams and projects are organized in ways that stifle new ideas. It's your job as a manager to create the right conditions for creativity to thrive—and to be part of the process yourself.

Whether you're eyeing a specific leadership role, hoping to advance your skills, or simply looking to broaden your professional network, you need to find someone who can help. Wait for a senior manager to come looking for you—and you'll probably be waiting forever. Instead, you need to find the mentoring that will help you achieve your goals. Managed correctly, mentoring is a powerful and efficient tool for moving up.

You've got a great idea that will increase revenue or boost productivity—but how do you get the buy-in you need to make it happen? By building a business case that clearly shows your idea's value. That's not always easy: Maybe you're not sure what kind of data your stakeholders will trust. Or perhaps you're intimidated by number crunching. The HBR Guide to Building Your Business Case, written by project management expert Raymond Sheen, gives you the guidance and tools you need to make a strong case.

How often have you sat in team meetings complaining to yourself, "Why does it take forever for this group to make a simple decision? What are we even trying to achieve?" As a team leader, you have the power to improve things. It's up to you to get people to work well together and produce results. Written by team expert Mary Shapiro, the HBR Guide to Leading Teams will help you avoid the pitfalls you've experienced in the past by focusing on the often-neglected people side of teams.

Research by Daniel Goleman, a psychologist and coauthor of Primal Leadership, has shown that emotional intelligence is a more powerful determinant of good leadership than technical competence, IQ, or vision. Influencing those around us and supporting our own well-being requires us to be self-aware, know when and how to regulate our emotional reactions, and understand the emotional responses of those around us. No wonder emotional intelligence has become one of the crucial criteria in hiring and promotion.

Can you prepare a breakeven analysis? Do you know the difference between an income statement and a balance sheet? Or understand why a business that's profitable can still go belly-up? Has your grasp of your company's numbers helped—or hurt—your career? Whether you're new to finance or you just need a refresher, this go-to guide will give you the tools and confidence you need to master the fundamentals, as all good managers must.

Are you looking for an alternative to a career path at a big firm? Does founding your own start-up seem too risky? There is a radical third path open to you: You can buy a small business and run it as CEO. Purchasing a small company offers significant financial rewards—as well as personal and professional fulfillment. Leading a firm means you can be your own boss, put your executive skills to work, fashion a company environment that meets your own needs, and profit directly from your success.

You're ready to take the next step in your career. But securing the right role can take a lot of work—and a lot of time and energy. How do you move forward without getting overwhelmed by the process? The HBR Guide to Your Job Search is here to help. Whether you're new to the workforce or have a well-established career, this book contains practical advice for navigating your job hunt.

Terrified of speaking in front of a group? Or simply looking to polish your skills? No matter where you are on the spectrum, this guide will give you the confidence and the tools you need to get results.

HBR Guide to Crafting Your Purpose debunks three misconceptions about purpose at work: that purpose is found, that you have only one, and that it remains the same over time. Packed with tips and advice for how you can cultivate more meaning in your life and at work, this book teaches you how to endow everything you do with purpose each day.

The HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict will give you the advice you need to understand the most common sources of conflict; explore your options for addressing a disagreement; recognize whether you—and your counterpart—typically seek or avoid conflict; prepare for and engage in a difficult conversation; manage your and your counterpart's emotions; develop a resolution together; and know when to walk away.

Whether you're managing your first project or just tired of improvising, this guide will give you the tools and confidence you need to define smart goals, meet them, and capture lessons learned so future projects go even more smoothly.

We know that the key to getting ahead and launching our ideas is building and sustaining a high-quality and diverse network. But the days of handing out hundreds of business cards at conferences and hoping for the best are over. Our networks need to be both strategic and authentic, made up of real relationships that bring real value. The HBR Guide to Smarter Networking will give you the tools and the confidence you need to make valuable connections, get your ideas off the ground, draw on others' expertise, scope out business opportunities, and land coveted roles.

From product design and financial modeling to performance management and hiring decisions—artificial intelligence and machine learning are becoming everyday tools for managers at businesses of all sizes. But the rewards of every AI system come with risks—and if you don't understand how to make sense of them, you're not going to make the right decisions. Whether you want to get up to speed quickly, could just use a refresher, or are working with an AI expert for the first time, HBR Guide to AI Basics for Managers will give you the information and skills you need.