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No experience necessary : Any manager can build great teams with these simple exercises.
Most managers, supervisors, and team leaders realize the importance of team-building, but just can't seem to find the time in their busy schedules. This book provides the solution! More Quick Team-Building Activities for Busy Managers contains 50 all-new exercises that can be conducted in 15 minutes or less, and which require no special facilities, big expense, or previous training experience. Each activity is presented in just a few short pages with all the relevant information including a list of materials needed, the purpose of the exercise, and handy tips for success, all highlighted for easy reference. You will find fun and effective activities for: building new teams and helping teams with new members finding creative ways to work together and solve problems increasing and improving communication keeping competition healthy and productive within the team dealing with change and its effects: anger, fear, frustration The book also includes special guidance for "virtual teams," whose members are in different locations but must work as a unit. For anyone charged with the task of bringing teams together, More Quick Team-Building Activities for Busy Managers is the answer.
Eliminate the need for time or resources on formal training and get your teams up and running themselves--with only minutes of prep. Between workplace personnel being more culturally diverse than ever before, a generation of employees being raised attached to technology while avoiding human interaction, and an increasing culture of competitiveness that is constantly raising tensions between cubicles, it has become absolutely essential for managers to focus more on camaraderie and building team spirit. Now in its second edition, Quick Team-Building Activities for Busy Managers addresses the problems that drag down group productivity and helps teams: Collaborate successfully Cope with change Solve problems together Communicate better despite cultural and generational differences Boost creativit Leverage diversity Nurture healthy competition Each of the 50 team-building activities in this invaluable resource takes only minutes to prep and uses only everyday office items to get its point across. In just 15 minutes a day, the results will be immediate: sullen teams find sparkle, nervous teams gain confidence, teams of strangers get to know one another. There are even activities to help the virtual team! No one will be left out, and all with leave the activity feeling better about their team and their individual role within it.
How effective a meeting will be depends on the tone set in the first few minutes...and it’s up to the person running it to set that tone. Quick Meeting Openers for Busy Managers gives readers the tools, activities, and advice they need to create the kind of open, energetic, and relaxed atmosphere that lead to effective meetings and serious results. Designed to take the anxiety out of meetings and encourage creative and practical discussion, the book contains meeting starters that will help managers, team leaders, and facilitators: ease introductions for people who don’t know each other • warm up the group before moving them into more difficult territory • generate lively dialogue and sharing of ideas • effectively split attendees up into work groups • expedite brainstorming and promote problem-solving • and more For anyone charged with the task of running meetings, this book is the answer.
This simple, easy-to-use book gives managers, supervisors, and team leaders activities to help their teams overcome emotional obstacles and become more effective. In a team situation, many issues -- like lack of trust and commitment, unresolved conflicts, and the inability of individuals to understand how their actions impact the rest of the team -- can stop even the most promising groups from delivering great results. In Quick Emotional Intelligence Activities for Busy Managers, you will find powerful, proven exercises they can use to help employees: identify individual and team mood deal with anger and emotional triggers avert, rather than avoid, conflict encourage communication overcome fear and other obstacles understand and manage competition honor differences assess team strengths and weaknesses pick up on cues from teammates control the emotional climate of the team Each activity is followed by a discussion of its purpose, how to use it, and a list of post-activity questions to help solidify each lesson. This practical, effective collection of proven exercises will elicit the best from any team.
Use technology to increase loyalty and productivity in your employees 50 Digital Team-Building Games offers fun, energizing meeting openers, team activities, and group adventures for business teams, using Twitter, GPS, Facebook, smartphones, and other technology. The games can be played in-person or virtually, and range from 5-minute ice-breakers to an epic four-hour GPS-based adventure. Designed to be lead by managers, facilitators, presenters, and speakers, the activities help teams and groups get comfortable with technology, get to know each other better, build trust, improve communication, and more. No need to be a "techie" to lead these games—they're simple and well-scripted. Author John Chen is the CEO of Geoteaming, a company that uses technology and adventure to teach teams how to collaborate. How to lead a simple, fast, fun team building activity with easy-to-follow instructions How to create successful "virtual" team building that requires NO travel and little to no additional expenses How to engage standoffish engineers, "hard to reach" technical teams, or Gen X/Y teammates with technology they enjoy using Successful technology-based team building can build buzz for your company, build critically important relationships and communication internally, and keep your team talking about it for weeks afterward!
"All managers want to hold their employees accountable for results, but few know how. Moving beyond the far-from-ideal annual performance review -- which only evaluates what has already occurred, and not what the manager wants to achieve -- Keeping Employees Accountable for Resultscontains checklists, how-tos, and other tools to manage performance on an ongoing basis. The book gives busy managers quick, step-by-step advice on: * Setting expectations * Monitoring progress * Giving feedback * Following through Light on theory and heavy on practical application, Keeping Employees Accountable for Results gives time-pressed managers the proven, practical information they need to help their people accomplish more."
Make training a game that everyone can win! Featuring activities and exercises designed for groups of any size, The Big Book of Low-Cost Training Games proves that training can still deliver outstanding results, even when you’re watching the bottom line. Whether you’re a trainer or facilitator, a group leader or manager, you’ll find the games in this book are excellent tools for building trust, exploring character, fostering collaboration, and demonstrating more effective communication techniques. Better still, with minimal props like index cards and markers, these activities are not just cost-effective but are also simple to set up and can be done virtually anywhere. From painless icebreakers to group challenges to meaningful community-building projects, The Big Book of Low-Cost Training Games is your winning game plan for maximizing group engagement and getting the most ROI from your training budget.
Get remote team members to interact as if they’re in the same room! Whether you’re videoconferencing with team members across the world or e-mailing a colleague sitting ten feet away, the truth is evident: technology has permanently altered the way we communicate. The virtual workplace can facilitate quicker decision making and reduced overhead. But the lack of face-to-face interaction can also impede trust, innovation, and creativity among team members. The Big Book of Virtual Team-Building Games is packed with games and activities for developing productive virtual teams across all digital platforms, including e-mail, mobile devices, web-based conferencing tools, and social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Skype. The Big Book of Virtual Team-Building Games helps you: Build a greater sense of community and reduce conflict Increase levels of engagement Get the most out of more-introverted team members Boost team members’ productivity Make sure that the only thing separating your people is distance. The Big Book of Virtual Team-Building Games is just the tool you need to develop trusting relationships, foster clear communication, and use technology to enhance the team’s connections.
From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together
