Quick Team-Building Activities for Busy Managers: 50 Exercises That Get Results in Just 15 Minutes

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a) This book delivers what it advertises: Quick team building activities. There's a surprising amount of variety and thought behind the book. It's organized and clear. The goals and methods are obvious.

b) As with everything in life, the success of the activities depends on you. And some luck. And you're going to have to take some chances.

c) The book is arranged by Need (ingenious, really). Say that your team is a bickering crew of backstabbing narcissists that fail to realize the inherent talents of their teammates. Flip to Chapter X and you'll have an activity that helps them understand the value of others. It's like a Jedi mind trick.

d) Stylistically, I can use about 1/3 of the activities in the book today. As teams and groups change, the other 2/3 of the book provides buffer. A few of the activities will never match my style - or yours - but that's Ok; that's the way things work. We don't all like Merlot.

e) Overall, (5) stars for delivering what the title promises (do what you say...), and an equal (5) stars for simple, valuable activities.

f) ps - One that I didn't see in the book is the Truths and a Lie game (maybe because it's everywhere on the net). Here it is: Give everyone (3) index cards. Have them write (2) True Statements and (1) False statement about themselves on the cards. Merge and Shuffle, Read each out loud and try to figure out who said what. It's a fun get-to-know-ya to kick off a project. Most of us don't really know our coworkers, so it works in all situations.

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