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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well-Organized and Useful Resource, June 22, 2001
This review is from: Teamwork and Teamplay: Games and Activities for Building and Training Teams (Paperback)
Being one of those relatively concrete-sequential, oldest child, ISTJ (for the Myers-Briggs aficionados) people, I started my consulting career a little wary of all these "touchy-feely" group activities that trainers use when working with groups. Well, times change and (maybe) people do, too. I have done a fair amount of group facilitation and training, and have found all kinds of activities to be very beneficial in getting people to identify, focus on, and move toward shared goals. Many trainers discount or are ignorant of the requirements of adult learners -- most adults won't sit still (literally) for traditional, classroom-style instruction for more than 45 minutes at a time. This book is an excellent, concise, easy-to-follow resource for anyone working in either team building or team training environments. As explained in the book's introduction, team building "...increases the ability of an intact team to work together...," while team training "...increases the knowledge and skills of the participants in various aspects of teamwork and being a team player...." The book presents many exercises for each type of team experience. Each of the 38 activities is organized in an easy-to-follow format that includes: * purpose * team size (minimum/maximum recommended group) * required resources * time (to complete) * room setup * steps * debriefing * variations * templates, charts, overheads, as applicable The book also includes appendices that sort the activities by primary use (team building or team training), time and participants, and by topic area (desired outcome or issue being addressed). These appendices make it easy to determine at a glance which of the 38 activities are most appropriate for a particular group or setting when designing training. The value of the introduction bears emphasis. Many books have forgettable introductions; this book's introduction is an excellent short essay on the value, uses, and benefits of building and training teams. Read it slowly -- the authors make their points quickly. If you skim, you'll miss something important. Whether you're a consultant or in-house trainer, regardless of organization size or mission, this book is a handy tool to improve the quality, participation, and outcomes from your groups training.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Splendid Team-Training Tool, September 28, 2000
This review is from: Teamwork and Teamplay: Games and Activities for Building and Training Teams (Paperback)
Sivasailam "Thiagi" Thiagarajan designs activities and games for training programs and to improve human performance. Glenn Parker is a team-building expert. When the two of them paired up to create Teamwork and Teamplay, they were able to offer 38 team-building and training exercises that work. The value of this book begins with its introduction. Thiagi and Parker start by identifying 7 different types of teams and guidelines for using the activities. Those guidelines include steps to take so you are prepared to facilitate the activity, steps to take during the activity, and what to do after the activity is concluded. Activities include skill-building in consensus-making (don't miss "Escape from Gilligan's Island" here!), ethics, motivation, team effectiveness, stages of team development. . .and more. Thiagi and Parker include three indices at the end of the book: a topical index, a primary use (team-building or -training activity) index, and a time/number index. Trainers, coaches, facilitators, and team leaders will find themselves returning to this book again and again. I have worked several of these games into my training sessions, with great results, and am eager to try even more. The activities are fun and groups find them engaging and energizing, and the learning points are solid.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Together Everyone Achieves More, July 22, 2002
This review is from: Teamwork and Teamplay: Games and Activities for Building and Training Teams (Paperback)
More is just what this phenomenal book of new and exciting trainings offers any aspiring and inspiring trainer. The trainings can be easily grouped and shared to produce high impact. In returning from a weekend seminar of team building and communication courses, several trainings from this manuel helped to provide for a high-impact seminar with team-work problem solving, team interaction and production, opportunities for great transitional shorties between programs (adaptability is immense!) and communication inside the team. Metcalfe, Our Team, ET, Escape from Gilligan's Island were among the courses used and combined with others throughout the seminar. Worthwhile trainings and with some ingenuity and creativity, easily adaptable to fit any size of audience! I highly recommend this book for trainers looking to provide something new or something different in seminars on team work and communication. I know I can't wait to implement more trainings from the book into helping others become better team players!
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