Comments on: 365 Low or No Cost Workplace Teambuilding Activities: Games and Exercises Designed to Build Trust and Encourage Teamwork among Employees

By: Suzanne M. Levine

Suzanne M. Levine — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:16:03 +0000

In so many business settings, you often hear the term “team-player”. I had often wondered how to make a team work together. With so many businesses requiring quotas to be met and goals to be constantly set and achieved, how does a team leader change the focus of the members of his or her team from a “me” standpoint, to an “us” standpoint. This transition can’t be forced, the members of the team have to want it.

In his book, 365 Low or No Cost Workplace Teambuilding Activities: Games and Exercises Designed To Build Trust and Encourage Teamwork Among Employees, John N. Peragine gives practical and feasible examples on how to make a group of individuals, into a team. From the first steps of selecting a leader and finding the focus, to effectively applying the principles learned, Mr. Peragine stresses the fact that quality and clear communication is the key.

After reading this book I can identify where much of Mr. Peragine’s knowledge has stemmed from. As a past high school band member and a parent of two present high school band members, I see the possibility of using many of these techniques during band camp to bring the group together as one. Effective teamwork insures that all work towards a common goal, for the common good.

By: Carla D. Ledbetter

Carla D. Ledbetter — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 15:49:11 +0000

One key to successful management is creating effective employee teams. Building trust among employees, however, is not an easy task. It takes patience and determination on the manager’s part, but the payoff is more than worth the effort.

How does a manger build effective teams? Peragine’s latest book, 365 Low or No Cost Workplace Teambuilding Activities: Games and Exercises Designed To Build Trust and Encourage Teamwork Among Employees, answers this question through chapter upon chapter that defines good leadership qualities, effective team building exercises, and provides insights on ways managers can motivate team members to utilize skills learned.

Each chapter follows a logical thought pattern, and subsequent examples build on principles illustrated in previous sections. Team building exercises fit a specific purpose, participation size, and skill level. Peragine does an excellent job of providing enough choices so that managers of small, medium, or large companies can find specific team building exercises to fit their particular goal.

The section called “…We Have Learned, Now How Do We Use What We Have Learned?…” effectively uses quotes to illustrate ways managers can encourage teams to follow-through on assignments, and develop an awareness of “the big picture” regarding their particular part of a task. Peragine’s last chapter, titled “Contacts,” provides readers with a brief synopsis of each individual quoted, and lists how that particular individual effectively uses team-building exercises in their own lives.

365 Low or No Cost Workplace Teambuilding Activities: Games and Exercises Designed To Build Trust and Encourage Teamwork Among Employees is a must-have reference guide for any manger who wants cohesive teams that work not only effectively, but efficiently to accomplish a given task.

By: K. White

K. White — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 14:48:28 +0000

My company has 34 employees and we are always looking for interesting ways to bring ourselves together as a team that functions in an efficient way without conflict.
This book covered a lot of useful areas: explaining that being a good leader is part of effective teambuilding. A lot of other teambuilding books just cover games that we could play together, without covering the things that would become issues during the actual games! Things like scheduling breaks, ensuring smokers have somewhere to smoke in comfort, and even suggesting the types of clothing the teams should wear for the activities.

The exercises that were detailed in the book looked like fun, but importantly it is explained what the purpose of the exercises are. The exercises are fun but they are not just games for the sake of games; they are useful tools to help build up your team!

I really enjoyed reading this book and cannot wait to try out several of these games and exercises at our next company event!

5 stars all around!

By: J. Linnell

J. Linnell — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:58:47 +0000

This book really focuses on effective teambuilding and not just coordinating group activities. The types of teams are described and defined, and the importance of teambuilding is driven home. (This fact may be important for workers trying to use this book to persuade management that teambuilding is needed in their companies.)

The team building games are split into categories describing the purpose of the game, like getting acquainted or improving communication. So, it’s easy to find a teambuilding game best suited for your purposes or your company. Under each game, the author lists number of players and items needed to play the game. The author also gives tips on scheduling a day of teambuilding and picking a place to hold it. And, of course, as the title says, all the suggestions are inexpensive and fairly easy to put together.

Great easy guide to teambuilding.

4 star rating!

By: Becky Blanton

Becky Blanton — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 11:43:18 +0000

Team building is difficult enough when you do know what you’re doing. There are so many books on the market with as many approaches as there are authors, it’s nice to find one that takes a realistic and practical approach to how to build a team. I love the bulleted, detailed approach to information and to the exercises. It makes it easier to remember important points and to refer back to. And the author isn’t kidding. These really are low or no-cost activities. Not all small businesses have million dollar budgets for team building exercises, but they still want to be fun and effective. This is the book for that! I like that he gives suggestions like using libraries, churches, local parks and other venues for some of the activities too. I hadn’t thought about that as an option, but good tips! This is a GREAT book for the young professional or business! It’s not all “pie-in-the-sky” psychology about team building exercises about what you MIGHT do, or COULD DO. It’s basic, real, practical advice and specific, very specific exercises that I know employees participating in won’t make fun of. The exercises are easy, fun and not intimidating. I went on a ropes course once as part of a team building exercise and it was a failure. It was cold, rainy, scary, hard - no one liked it or got anything of it. So outdoor thrill stuff isn’t always so good. These exercises are things I’ve done before and would be comfortable doing in a group. There are some good tips on using time effectively too.

But what I really, really like is that you really don’t have to have a lot of money to do these exercises. I’ve read too many books where the author plans elaborate rope courses, rafting trips etc. claiming they’re inexpensive. They’re not! It’s not just low-cost exercises either. For those of us with older employees, or some who aren’t physically daring, this book gives a variety of examples from cooking to ping-pong to art/craft projects that sound really fun as well as have a real purpose too. The other neat thing is that each team building project lists the purpose, group size, level of team building, supplies, the amount of time and a description. Even if you never went to summer camp or did any team building exercises in college - you could read this book and go out and have success. It’s written more, I think, for the small to mid-size business with 3-10 employees. I’d give it a 5 for thoroughness. Very well organized! I think this would not only work for businesses, but it’s a great book for Boy or Girl Scouts, college sororities, book clubs, camps and camp counselors. Anyone who works with teams - be it little league, school sports - it’s a great book!

By: Bobbi Leder

Bobbi Leder — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 22:38:15 +0000

Do you wish your employees would start to trust one another and work as a team? Well you’re in luck because 365 Low Or No Cost Workplace Team Building Activities by John N. Peragine, Jr. is an engaging book that not only includes 150 communication activities and 118 self esteem & self discovery activities, but also provides practical advice for problem solving.

This book gives specific examples – including real life cases of activities that did not work out - and discusses topics like time management, communication, venues and group size; and it doesn’t miss any detail -including lunch. It tells you directly which leadership qualities work best to inspire and motivate your team while gaining loyalty.

John N. Peragine, Jr. uses his personal experience in the music industry to draw analogies that the reader can easily understand; the team leader is the conductor, the employees are the musicians, and together they work effectively as an ensemble. This is a very practical hands-on book - for both employers and employees - that should be in every office.

****4 Star rating