How to Implement a Book Club at Work: Your Work Book Club Fosters Employee Development
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How To Implement a Book Club at Work
By Susan M. Heathfield, About.com Guide
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Looking for an easy way to share information and develop
employees at work? Form a book club in which a group of
employees voluntarily read the same book. Combine the book
reading with a regularly scheduled discussion meeting to double
the impact of the book. Ask one employee to lead the discussion
about the week's assigned chapter or two. Ask a second employee
to lead the discussion about the relevance of the book's teachings
to your organization. You'll magnify learning with a book club.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: Approximately 15 hours to read and participate
per book selected.
Here's How:
1. Determine if employees are interested in a book club. Send
out an email to gauge employee interest in reading a book on
their own time and then meeting at lunch once a week to
discuss the book. (At TechSmith Corporation, this brief email
brought in interest from twenty-six voluntary readers.)
2. Sometimes organization leaders and other employees may
have a book in mind to suggest. (Perhaps an employee
recently read a book they'd recommend.) Other times, a
small team is recruited to pick a book, or to provide several
choices. This step can also depend on who the volunteer
readers are. If the majority represent the marketing function,
you may want to decide upon a recent marketing book. If
readers are from across the company, you will want a
broader or more society oriented book.
3. Allow the voluntary participants to vote to select the book to
read.
4. I recommend that the company purchase the copies of the
book. It's a small price to pay for knowledge generation.
http://humanresources.about.com/od/educationgeneral/ht/book_club.htm
2/22/2010
How to Implement a Book Club at Work: Your Work Book Club Fosters Employee Development
Page 2 of 3
5. Hold a quick organizational meeting to determine the number
of chapters the group wants to read each week and to pass
out the books. Select a volunteer to lead the book discussion
at this meeting. Select a volunteer to lead the relevance
discussion, too. Select a regular meeting time.
6. Read, meet, discuss.
7. When the group completes the book, select the next book.
Send an email to the company announcing the next book and
soliciting members for the next round of the book club.
8. I like cross functional book club members for company team
building and the cross functional viewpoint. However, you
can also reap benefits when department members, as an
example, read together on a book of interest to the
department.
Tips:
1. Do invite new members to the book club each time a new
book is started. You don't want the group turning into an
exclusive team.
2. Select books that have broad appeal. Several books that
have been popular in recent years in work book clubs
include:
First Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest
Managers ... (Compare Prices.)
Good to Great (Compare Prices.)
Freakonomics (Compare Prices.)
The World Is Flat (Compare Prices.)
3. Sharing books is a mistake. You'll want to purchase one book
per person so your employees feel unpressured as members
of the book club.(They have enough pressure in other
aspects of their work. Right?)
What You Need:
z
One Book Per Person
z
Conference Room
z
Flip Chart or White Board and Markers
More Human Resources How To's
Explore Human Resources
http://humanresources.about.com/od/educationgeneral/ht/book_club.htm
2/22/2010
INT007
Book Club Summary Sheet
Use the link below to electronically submit the summary sheet required
for this reading. Once you click DONE, your quiz will automatically be
forwarded to the Personnel Department.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/INT007
Don’t forget to check this course off on your class record!