First Things Fast : A Handbook for Performance Analysis

Rating:
Summary: hands-on guide that is immediately useful
Review: Overall, this book is a straightforward examination of performance analysis that explains why p.a. is more practial than traditional "training." It's a godsend for people who have to implement a plan right away because of the abundance of checklists and templates. I have some minor criticisms though since I have read several books in a similar category. 1 -- the author does not write as professionally as others (Rothwell, for example, who wrote Beyond training and Development) and spends too much time touting her earlier books 2 -- often the information borders on the extremely obvious 3 -- the book is overpriced as many textbooks are. P.A. boils down to the fact that it's really a "casing the joint" type of strategy -- get a general idea of the situation before diving in. All this fancy terminology for such a basic idea... still, it can definitely save a company a lot of time and money to do this common sense approach before spending money on training.

Rating:
Summary: hands-on guide that is immediately useful
Review: Overall, this book is a straightforward examination of performance analysis that explains why p.a. is more practial than traditional "training." It's a godsend for people who have to implement a plan right away because of the abundance of checklists and templates. I have some minor criticisms though since I have read several books in a similar category. 1 -- the author does not write as professionally as others (Rothwell, for example, who wrote Beyond training and Development) and spends too much time touting her earlier books 2 -- often the information borders on the extremely obvious 3 -- the book is overpriced as many textbooks are. P.A. boils down to the fact that it's really a "casing the joint" type of strategy -- get a general idea of the situation before diving in. All this fancy terminology for such a basic idea... still, it can definitely save a company a lot of time and money to do this common sense approach before spending money on training.

Rating:
Summary: An illuminating, practical guide for performance consulting
Review: Rossett makes a very useful distinction in this book between performance analysis and training needs analysis. She recommends an action-oriented consulting approach that ensures the real problems and potential solutions are identified before selecting training as an intervention. Her approach is practical and recognizes the time and resource constraints that learning consultants, managers, and their companies operate within. I have ordered copies for all of my staff!

Rating:
Summary: An illuminating, practical guide for performance consulting
Review: This book is a great help for anyone who is asked to analyze a performance problem. It provides a series of checklists and job aids to help someone figure out what's going on and how to fix it. It considers lots of problems and teaches you how to decide if the employee needs instruction, motivation or a changed environment. I really enjoyed this very practical and easy to read handbook; it avoids all the theory and jargon and puts the emphasis on analyzing human performance problems in a quick, efficient manner.

Rating:
Summary: Guess who's coming to dinner
Review: This book serves as the first course at a performance analysis dinner-it whets the appetite and entices the reader to look further and deeper. It provides the reader with tasty morsels of information without weighing the reader down in the heavier technicalities of performance analysis. First Things Fast is a quick and easy reference for the professional trainer and one that I will keep on hand for future use. It addresses the situation as it is-the way things are-and provides concrete examples and solutions for those involved with the process. Because of the quick and easy reading that characterizes the book, I would recommend this book to those who are seeking a basic understanding of performance analysis without wanting to invest a great deal of time. I would also recommend it to those who want a quick reference for use in their performance analysis work (the templates are an effective starting point for the line of questioning which needs to occur). First Things Fast has the potential to be an extremely useful tool for those individuals who are in the position to decide what needs to be done and why.

Rating:
Summary: Guess who's coming to dinner
Review: This book serves as the first course at a performance analysis dinner-it whets the appetite and entices the reader to look further and deeper. It provides the reader with tasty morsels of information without weighing the reader down in the heavier technicalities of performance analysis. First Things Fast is a quick and easy reference for the professional trainer and one that I will keep on hand for future use. It addresses the situation as it is-the way things are-and provides concrete examples and solutions for those involved with the process. Because of the quick and easy reading that characterizes the book, I would recommend this book to those who are seeking a basic understanding of performance analysis without wanting to invest a great deal of time. I would also recommend it to those who want a quick reference for use in their performance analysis work (the templates are an effective starting point for the line of questioning which needs to occur). First Things Fast has the potential to be an extremely useful tool for those individuals who are in the position to decide what needs to be done and why.