Quick Team-Building Activities for Busy Managers, 50 Exercises That Get Results In Just 15 Minutes, by Brian Cole Miller, Amacom 2003
Don't you hate those touchy-feeling team-building exercises that embarass would-be participants and those breakout groups where strangers put their own twisted agendas on the flip charts. Or how about the three-hour long brainstorming sessions that end with polarized groups of agitated participants? We've all experienced "experiential sessions" gone awry, but this book is a safer and more fun starting point. And fun is good, better than discord.
Let's start with Step 1, "Select an activity that's good for your team"
By thinking through where your team is on attainable goals - the author shows how picking the right activity and the right goals will help a team built trust.
Miller promises that readers will NOT find themselves doing role-plays - arg, or demostrations, or arduous physical activities involving ropes, straps and ladders, no "touchy-feely, " and no hand-outs! With all these cleared away, prepare for fun, with entire chapters filled with exercises that develop positive team interactions such as:
Communications - fun with $2 negotiation, card triangles, origami, and washing machines
Connecting - Gossip time, Human Billboards, Sweet Stories
Cooperation -Catch!, Popcorn, Silence is Golden, Star Power
Coping, Dealing with Changer - Guess and Switch, Machines, Puzzled Thumbs, Simon Sez, Wrong-handed Picture
Creativity: Solving Problems Together - Seven Hands, Balloon Scullptures, Card Stack, and my favorite, Consultants
Teamwork: Appreciating and Supporting Each Other - Blame Game, First Impressions, Junk to Jewels, Labels, What I Like About Me
Mill Girl Verdict: Corporate Fun! A!