One of my favorite experiential activities for management training is an oldie but goodie called the “Boo/Yay” exercise. In it, two volunteers separately try to guess a per-determined task such as walking to the front of the room and picking up a marker. The audience is instructed to give the volunteers feedback to help them…
Team Effectiveness
Book Review: The Sharp Employee
In preparation for reviewing the Marcus Buckingham’s soon-to-be released book Find Your Strongest Life, I decided to pull some of Buckingham’s earlier books off the shelf and give them a second look. This review is the first of a three-part series. Now, Discover Your Strengths Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton The highlights: In the…
No-Cost Ideas for Energizing Your Team
In my post Not Everyone Loves Putt Putt, I advised leaders to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of hosting an offsite gathering that’s “fun day” or social in nature. In a well-intended effort to promote team cohesiveness, these outings sometimes fall short. So what’s a leader to do if the team isn’t interested in an…
Not Everyone Loves Putt-Putt
For many of us in the United States, September means “back to school”. In the business world, that sense of starting anew often prompts team leaders to consider some sort of social off-site activity (lunch, golf, attending a cultural event) as a means to energize their team. Off-site activities, when properly conceived and aligned to…