Whether you're working at home, on the road, or in any other nontraditional work arrangement, here's what you'll need to set up, survive, and thrive in the virtual office. Alice Bredin, the leading authority on the virtual office, gives you expert advice on:

• Getting there—choosing the right business idea, negotiating for telecommuting, and selling your family on your new workstyle
• Organizing yourself—structuring your environment, setting up a virtual office in your home or car, dealing with a satellite office situation, choosing and finding the best technology
• Maintaining your virtual office—staying in the loop when you're not in an office, keeping in touch when you're on the road, generating business, finding free publicity, adopting the habits of highly successful virtual office workers, maintaining contact with the office or customers, communicating effectively via technology
• Surviving—creating and maintaining work/life balance, working at home with kids, avoiding overwork, making sure your accomplishments are recognized, learning to take vacations, staying away from the fridge, being a good boss to yourself

Whether you are contemplating this new work arrangement, actively in transition, or firmly entrenched in this workplace revolution, this comprehensive guide is your key to success in your new working environment.

In a professional world that is quickly transforming and becoming increasingly volatile and uncertain, the nature of professional identity is complex and dynamic. The current literature has overlooked many issues concerning how professionals react and behave in the face of threats to their identity and image and there is a lack of a systemic analysis of the phenomenon of professional identity crisis.This book contends that a full comprehension of the dynamics taking place is now paramount from the individual perspective and provides a new theoretical and practical approach to the analysis and interpretation of these issues. Providing a novel understanding, the book delivers an empirical case to explore professionals' reactions in a context characterised by a sharp de-professionalisation pattern and ever-expanding regulation, uncertainty, and external pressures, which constrain and mould accountants' professional boundaries and activities. This book will prove a useful read to researchers across organisation studies, as well as interested professionals.

This practical, politically neutral book offers concrete skills for holding meaningful conversations that cut across today's intense political divide, showing readers how to connect to the people in their lives. Chapters show readers how to develop and use the scientifically-proven skills that are the foundation of constructive conversation, including strategies for effective listening, managing emotions, and understanding someone else's perspective, as well as finding common ground, avoiding self-righteousness, and telling your own story. Throughout, conversation prompts, practical exercises, case examples, and self-quizzes help readers visualize and practice starting, sustaining, and ending challenging conversations.

* Instant Wall Street Journal bestseller * Translated into 18 languages * #1 Most Recommended Book of the year (Bloomberg annual survey of CEOs and entrepreneurs) * An Bloomberg, Financial Times, Forbes, Inc., Newsweek, Strategy + Business, Tech Crunch, Washington Post Best Business Book of the year * Recommended by Bill Gates, Daniel Kahneman, Malcolm Gladwell, Dan Pink, Adam Grant, Susan Cain, Sid Mukherjee, Tim Ferriss Why do good teams kill great ideas? Loonshots reveals a surprising new way of thinking about the mysteries of group behavior that challenges everything we thought we knew about nurturing radical breakthroughs. Safi Bahcall, a physicist and entrepreneur, shows why teams, companies, or any group with a mission will suddenly change from embracing new ideas to rejecting them, just as flowing water will suddenly change into brittle ice. Mountains of print have been written about culture. Loonshots identifies the small shifts in structure that control this transition, the same way that temperature controls the change from water to ice. Using examples that range from the spread of fires in forests to the hunt for terrorists online, and stories of thieves and geniuses and kings, Bahcall shows how a new kind of science can help us become the initiators, rather than the victims, of innovative surprise. Over the past decade, researchers have been applying the tools and techniques of this new science--the science of phase transitions--to understand how birds flock, fish swim, brains work, people vote, diseases erupt, and ecosystems collapse. Loonshots is the first to apply this science to the spread of breakthrough ideas. Bahcall distills these insights into practical lessons creatives, entrepreneurs, and visionaries can use to change our world. Along the way, readers will learn how chickens saved millions of lives, what James Bond and Lipitor have in common, what the movie The Imitation Game got wrong about World War II, and what really killed Pan Am, Polaroid, and the Qing Dynasty. "If The Da Vinci Code and Freakonomics had a child together, it would be called Loonshots." --Senator Bob Kerrey

Offers invaluable and accessible guidance for designing workspaces in order to increase productivity and efficiency and reduce operating costs. After reviewing an existing situation, the author presents a variety of approaches that include instruction and direction to enact changes. Identifies specific deterrents in the workplace, providing new techniques and other methods to solve them. Details the Shumake Beta Module, created by the author, which supports maximum productivity by an individual worker at any company's level. All the material in the text has been successfully tested.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), corporate governance and workplace practices are intimately connected. They are indeed three distinct pillars of any successful business venture. This work strongly argues that without fulfilling the social responsibilities, economic and legal obligations of a business organization simply becomes infructuous. The best course of action for business is to first serve its stakeholders, mainly its employees. Hence, the overarching theme that revolves round the book is that employee engagement and their welfare are the keys to ascertain democratic practices at workplace. And once it is ensured, this would help an enterprise to fulfilling and encompassing four aspects of CSR i.e. economic, legal, ethical and discretionary or philanthropic.

Communication is no longer considered an optional soft" skill for climbing the corporate ladder. More and more businesses are placing emphasis on being able to communicate effectively. Communicating Effectively For Dummies gives you the tools and insight you need to manage conflict, build teams and communicate persuasively at work."

In this timely manifesto, the authors of the New York Times bestseller Rework broadly reject the prevailing notion that long hours, aggressive hustle, and "whatever it takes" are required to run a successful business today. In Rework, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson introduced a new path to working effectively. Now, they build on their message with a bold, iconoclastic strategy for creating the ideal company culture-what they call "the calm company." Their approach directly attack the chaos, anxiety, and stress that plagues millions of workplaces and hampers billions of workers every day. Long hours, an excessive workload, and a lack of sleep have become a badge of honor for modern professionals. But it should be a mark of stupidity, the authors argue. Sadly, this isn't just a problem for large organizations-individuals, contractors, and solopreneurs are burning themselves out the same way. The answer to better productivity isn't more hours-it's less waste and fewer things that induce distraction and persistent stress. It's time to stop celebrating Crazy, and start celebrating Calm, Fried and Hansson assert. Fried and Hansson have the proof to back up their argument. "Calm" has been the cornerstone of their company's culture since Basecamp began twenty years ago. Destined to become the management guide for the next generation, It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work is a practical and inspiring distillation of their insights and experiences. It isn't a book telling you what to do. It's a book showing you what they've done-and how any manager or executive no matter the industry or size of the company, can do it too.

If you read nothing else on communicating effectively, read these definitive articles from Harvard Business Review. The best leaders know how to communicate clearly and persuasively. How do you stack up? HBR's 10 Must Reads on Communication 2-Volume Collection provides enduring ideas and practical advice to help you express your ideas with clarity and impact&#8212no matter what the situation. Bringing together HBR's 10 Must Reads on Communication and HBR's 10 Must Reads on Communication, Vol. 2, this collection includes twenty articles selected by HBR's editors and features the indispensable article "The Necessary Art of Persuasion" by Jay A. Conger. From timeless classics to the latest game-changing ideas from thought leaders Erin Meyer, Robert B. Cialdini, Nick Morgan, Heidi Grant, and more, HBR's 10 Must Reads on Communication 2-Volume Collection will inspire you to: Power your organization through conversation Pitch your brilliant idea&#8212successfully Establish credibility and connect with your audience Unlock value throughout your company by asking better questions Achieve better outcomes in cross-cultural negotiations Create smart, effective data visualizations Spark collaboration, learning, and innovation using digital tools Build consensus and win support HBR's 10 Must Reads paperback series is the definitive collection of books for new and experienced leaders alike. Leaders looking for the inspiration that big ideas provide, both to accelerate their own growth and that of their companies, should look no further. HBR's 10 Must Reads series focuses on the core topics that every ambitious manager needs to know: leadership, strategy, change, managing people, and managing yourself. Harvard Business Review has sorted through hundreds of articles and selected only the most essential reading on each topic. Each title includes timeless advice that will be relevant regardless of an ever-changing business environment.

Walmart is the largest employer in the world. It encompasses nearly 1 percent of the entire American workforce-young adults, parents, formerly incarcerated people, retirees. Walmart also presents one possible future of work-Walmartism-in which the arbitrary authority of managers mixes with a hyperrationalized, centrally controlled bureaucracy in ways that curtail workers' ability to control their working conditions and their lives. In Working for Respect, Adam Reich and Peter Bearman examine how workers make sense of their jobs at places like Walmart in order to consider the nature of contemporary low-wage work, as well as the obstacles and opportunities such workplaces present as sites of struggle for social and economic justice. They describe the life experiences that lead workers to Walmart and analyze the dynamics of the shop floor. As a part of the project, Reich and Bearman matched student activists with a nascent association of current and former Walmart associates: the Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart). They follow the efforts of this new partnership, considering the formation of collective identity and the relationship between social ties and social change. They show why traditional unions have been unable to organize service-sector workers in places like Walmart and offer provocative suggestions for new strategies and directions. Drawing on a wide array of methods, including participant-observation, oral history, big data, and the analysis of social networks, Working for Respect is a sophisticated reconsideration of the modern workplace that makes important contributions to debates on labor and inequality and the centrality of the experience of work in a fair economy.

Co-published with SHRM.

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a strong indicator of individual, team, and organizational success. But stocking up on emotionally intelligent employees isn't enough: you need a concrete plan for putting this valuable resource to work. The EQ Difference offers an array of self-assessment tools and team-focused exercises that will help increase and leverage emotional intelligence both in individuals and in groups. It's filled with practical tips and suggestions for developing your own ""emotional quotient,"" as well as that of your peers, employees, and even senior executives.

Featuring real workplace examples, Letters to Leaders, and excerpts from actual performance reviews that show the positive impact of EI in a variety of environments, The EQ Difference will help your organization achieve greater productivity, higher morale, and better employee retention -- all keys to stronger bottom line results.

Revitalize your company and roar out of the recession. We're facing the second major global downturn in a decade. To survive, companies must balance managing the crisis in the short term with innovation and reinvention to return to growth in a changed world. HBR's 10 Must Reads for the Recession Collection offers the ideas and strategies you need to lead your company on the path to renewal. Included in this set are: HBR's 10 Must Reads on Managing in a Downturn (Expanded Edition) HBR's 10 Must Reads on Organizational Resilience HBR's 10 Must Reads on Managing Risk HBR's 10 Must Reads on Innovation HBR's 10 Must Reads on Business Model Innovation HBR's 10 Must Reads on Change Management It includes 60 articles selected by HBR's editors from renowned thought leaders such as Clayton Christensen, John Kotter, Rita Gunther McGrath, W. Chan Kim, and Renee Mauborgne, and features the indispensable articles "Global Supply Chains in a Post-Pandemic World" by Willy Shih and "Roaring Out of Recession" by Nitin Nohria and Ranjay Gulati. It's time for companies to be bold in the face extraordinary headwinds. HBR's 10 Must Reads for the Recession Collection will help you face them. HBR's 10 Must Reads paperback series is the definitive collection of books for new and experienced leaders alike. Leaders looking for the inspiration that big ideas provide, both to accelerate their own growth and that of their companies, should look no further. HBR's 10 Must Reads series focuses on the core topics that every ambitious manager needs to know: leadership, strategy, change, managing people, and managing yourself. Harvard Business Review has sorted through hundreds of articles and selected only the most essential reading on each topic. Each title includes timeless advice that will be relevant regardless of an ever-changing business environment.

'An invaluable guide to surviving professional life. Cate Sevilla is insightful, inventive and so supportive' Viv Groskop 'Entertaining and practical; moving and funny and, most importantly, a helping hand from someone who's been through it' Emma Gannon, Sunday Times bestselling author 'A timely and provocative book that is at once empathetic about the challenges work presents and empowering on how to overcome them' Bruce Daisley, author of The Joy of Work Bosses are maddening. Colleagues are profoundly irritating. And balancing family and work is daunting. So how do we balance success with sanity? How do we progress without burning out? Whether you're drowning in a toxic working environment, battling burnout, recovering from redundancy, or just struggling to figure out what you actually want from your career, Cate Sevilla is here to help coach you through the shittiness of your work day, and help you shift your relationship with your career. Having worked at giant corporations like Google (where her days consisted of aggressive bosses, complimentary pastries and lots of tears) and scrappy start-ups like The Pool (where she was Editor-in-Chief when it all went pear-shaped), Cate Sevilla has laboured through a lot of stressful and downright ridiculous work situations so that you don't have to. Drawing from lessons learned in her career and interviews with other women, How to Work Without Losing Your Mind is a relatable and reassuring guide to the messy, stressful and sometimes bizarre side of work that everyone experiences but no one talks about. It'll be your tonic after a long, hard working week, where you've ugly cried with your colleagues and are exhausted from endless video calls - and are wondering what the hell to do next.

Would
you
read
information
presented
like
this?

No. It's just not natural. Sometimes presentation is almost as important as content. When you create a report, the goal is to provide information for readers in a format they can readily understand.

"Crystal Reports 10 For Dummies, " the latest version of the most popular report writer in the world, shows you how to create simple or sophisticated reports, turning data into interactive, actionable reports that convey what's happening in your business. You can progress cover-to-cover or use the index to find out how to: Give your reports more pizzazz by using the correct fonts, color, drop shadows, graphic elements, and moreIntegrate elements from multiple, non-database sourcesGroup sort, total result sets, cross-tab reports, and add formulas, charts, or mapsPrint reportsUse customized Business Views gleaned from the same information to provide each reader with information he or she needs to know without spilling all the beans, sales figures, marketing information, or whateverPresent multi-dimensional data in OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) cubesGet ideas from sample reports on the companion Web site

Written by Allen G. Taylor, nationally known lecturer, teacher, and author of over 20 books, including "Database Development for Dummies, Crystal Reports 10 For Dummies" makes it crystal clear how to: Store your information securely in Crystal RepositoryUse Crystal Analysis 10 to display OLAP data so you and your report's readers can analyze the information in an online environmentUse Crystal Enterprise to put Crystal Reports online for viewing by hundreds or thousands of people in your organization

Whether you want to dazzle your company's CEO and shareholders, motivate the sales force, or simply share database information cogently, with "Crystal Reports 10 For Dummies" you not only make your point, you an impression. When your reports look professional, you look professional.

When the Harvard Business Review asked Robert Sutton for suggestions for its annual list of Breakthrough Ideas, he told them that the best business practice he knew of was 'the no asshole rule'. Sutton's piece became one of the most popular articles ever to appear in the HBR. Spurred on by the fear and despair that people expressed, the tricks they used to survive with dignity in asshole-infested places, the revenge stories that made him laugh out loud and the other small wins that they celebrated against mean-spirited people, Sutton was persuaded to write THE NO ASSHOLE RULE. He believes passionately that civilised workplaces are not a naive dream, that they do exist, do bolster performance and that widespread contempt can be erased and replaced with mutual respect when a team or organisation is managed right. There is a huge temptation by executives and those in positions of authority to overlook this trait especially when exhibited by so-called producers, but Sutton shows how overall productivity suffers when the workplace is subjected to this kind of stress.