When was the last time you received an email and cringed at the muddled organization and horrible grammar? Or you felt so overwhelmed that your productivity plummeted? Or how about the last time you were so unsure about making a big decision that you came across as unprepared or worse — unprofessional?
Unfortunately, business professionals in all stages of their careers encounter these situations at one point or another. Although these instances may seem benign on the surface, they harm your professional reputation, which is hard to reverse. Would you want to do business with someone who is so unorganized that he constantly misses project deadlines or turns in shoddy work because he’s rushed? Of course not! Project management and having a solid organizational system are just a couple of the secrets to success that we discuss in this book.
This book provides you with detailed information on topics that will help you gain the confidence needed to grow and advance in your business life. You’ll read about the ins and outs of the income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows, how to craft the perfect written document that gets results, how to plan a project like a pro, and more.
There’s a time and a place for just about everything and assumptions are no different. First, we assume that you are a business professional and you’re ready, willing, and able to devote some time and energy into honing your business skills.
We also assume that you have at least a general knowledge of the major software packages that businesses use and are interested in utilizing them to advance in your professional activities. If that’s the case, this is the book for you!
Throughout this book, you’ll find special icons to call attention to important information. Here’s what to expect.
This icon is used for helpful suggestions and things you may find useful at some point. No worries, though: No one will be falling asleep during your presentations if you take to heart the tip written here!
Although this book is a one-stop shop for your professional development, we can cover only so much in a set number of pages! If you find yourself at the end of this book thinking, “This was an amazing book! Where can I learn more about how to advance my career by working on my business skills?” head over to www.dummies.com
for more resources.
For details about significant updates or changes that occur between editions of this book, go to www.dummies.com
, search for Business Skills All-in-One For Dummies, and open the Downloads tab on this book’s dedicated page.
In addition, check out the cheat sheet for this book for tips on making informed decisions, avoiding common project management pitfalls, building your LinkedIn network, and more. To get to the cheat sheet, go to www.dummies.com
, and then type Business Skills All-in-One For Dummies in the Search box.
The minibooks and chapters are written to stand on their own, so you can start reading anywhere and skip around as you see fit.
If you don’t know where to start, check out Book 1, Chapter 1. However, if you see a particular topic that piques your interest, feel free to jump right into its chapter.
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