How Do I Choose the Best Supervisor Books?

To choose the best supervisor books, it's important to first understand what you hope to get out of them. By pinpointing the concepts you want or need to learn, it can be simple to select books on supervision by scanning the table of contents to see whether your required subject matter is included. You may also want to ask business leaders you know for their recommendation of supervisor books or consider book picks listed in your favorite business-themed magazines. Going to a business-oriented bookstore, either in person or online, may help you find books about supervisory skills in many different formats, such as workbook style, humorous, analogical or self-evaluation. Choosing a variety of supervisor book formats may widen your perspective on certain business topics and help you reflect on the concepts covered.

For example, if your main goal when looking for books on how to supervise people is to increase your job skills in leadership, a book about the different types of leadership methods may help you consider how each type may be effective, while one designed with self-tests to help you determine the kind of leader you are can give you more self-awareness. Sometimes, an analogical take in supervisor books can create clarity for the reader by bringing more of an understanding to business concepts learned in a book with a more serious tone.

Workbook types of supervisor guides can be a good choice if you learn best by writing down information. These supervisor books can also help you practice your business communication skills if you take care in your spelling, punctuation and sentence structure in your answers. Some kinds of supervisor workbooks focus on the reader applying the information to his or her current job, so if you aren't already in a supervisory position, this type of book may not be useful to you. If you are a supervisor, picking a workbook that allows you to document and reflect on your workplace leadership experiences by comparing them to the examples in the book can be an ideal choice.

Reading books suggested by colleagues or contacts you have in the business world can help you network and share ideas as well as keep you more informed on different topics that you may not have considered reading on your own. It's also a good idea to select supervision books on any areas you feel you need to improve on in terms of your career development. If the topic isn't listed in the table of contents, it's best to look at other books until you find those that deal with the exact information you want.