"Every group can benefit from team-building exercises. But sometimes it’s not practical to embark on a full-scale training initiative. Now, supervisors, managers, and team leaders have 50 team-building activities to choose from, all of which can be implemented with no special facilities, big expense, or previous training experience. Readers will find engaging exercises for:

* Building new teams and helping teams with new members

* Dealing with change and its effects: anger, fear, frustration, and more

* Recognizing individual efforts and team accomplishments

* Finding creative ways to work together and solve problems

* Increasing and improving communication

* Leveraging diversity and individual differences to meet team goals

* Keeping competition healthy and productive within the team

Instructions and tips for follow-up and variations are included for each activity, and an additional chapter provides valuable advice for working through unexpected difficulties in team-building."

The book is organized into two parts. The first section is instructional; the second section consists of bullet-pointed presentations of fifty short easy-to-run exercises. The opening section has two chapters that are worth the price of the book all by themselves: How to Run a Successful Team-Building Activity and What Could Go Wrong with a Team-Building Activity. What a sense of security this section gives managers: these activities are simple to use...and your experience is practically fail-safe.

Each of the activities is presented using the same format. The bullet-point sections are This is, The Purpose is, Use This When, Materials You'll Need, Here's How, For Example, Ask these Questions, Tips for Success, and Try these Variations. It doesn't get much more comfortable than this! Understanding today's work environment, Miller promises no role-lays, demonstrations, outdoor activities, handouts, or touchy-feely stuff. The activities are organized by areas of need: Communication, Connecting, Cooperation, Coping, Creativity, and Teamwork. A strong index complements the well-organized table of contents, making the volume highly user-friendly.

Recommended for managers and supervisors, as well as training and development professionals. Consultants will also find this tool to be useful as they work to bring people together to achieve results. Everything is explained so that the exercises can be led by laymen or by professionals. A wide variety of tools is offered, enabling the reader/user to choose the experience that will be best for the participants and the circumstances.


Affordable book, easy to do activities   July 2, 2004
 24 out of 26 found this review helpful

For the money, this is one of the best activity books you will find. All of the activities are easy to set up and easy to complete -- but they do all serve a purpose. When the author says that these are 15 minute activities, he means it. I am an independent leadership consultant and I have started using this book over and over again when I present workshops. You'll love it!


Great resource   October 13, 2004
 24 out of 27 found this review helpful

Having a Master's Degree in Training and Development, I have read several books on this topic. This book was fun and informative as well as an enjoyable read. I've used several of the excecises and each have proven to be effective. The format is both easy to follow and well presented. It left no questioned unanswered.


Clear and concise with good ideas   May 24, 2004
 19 out of 20 found this review helpful

Great resource...from the intro chapters that explain clearly and concisely how to run an activity as well as what could go wrong and how to avoid it (or deal with it), to the the 50 activities themselves. Everything is so clear and concise...the whole book is written in bullets. And none of the activities are so out there that you'd be afraid to try them. I've used several with my staff and we've all (even me!) had a great time and grown stronger together.


Makes it so easy   November 27, 2003
 16 out of 17 found this review helpful

This book is terrific and so, so easy to use! How many times are you asked to add some sort of quick teambuiling exercise to a meeting and you have to scour your brain to come up with new ones that won't get groans from the team? This is the perfect solution for on-the-spot energy boosting activities. The author really understands "busy managers!"