The Office Book Club February 4th, 2010

I regularly receive a newsletter from About.com HR, and they recently included a great article How to Implement a Book Club at Work. Being in a book club outside of work, I thought this was an interesting idea, and it got me thinking about how early on in my career, my mentor used to give me reading assignments to help with my career development. The author of the piece Susan Heathfield does a great job of explaining the benefits and how-tos of starting an office book club:

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.

As an HR pro, this may not be a new idea, but maybe it is worth a bit of consideration to see if is a good fit for your own team, or as an optional team builder organization-wide. I know for myself, as a new manager, reading the book First Break all the Rules, really changed my approach and became a guiding force for how I work with my team. As an avid reader, this was a great way to plant seeds and concepts that I may not have easily accepted as feedback per se. Books can be transformational, so why not see if employees have the interest in this, it could make an impact on their individual development.

Now, this is the Lighter Side of HR, so what about fun book clubs at work? I am sure for many of you, you tend to recommend or even share books, and discuss different ones you loved, or even hated. A book club that meets at lunch time or after work could take this one further in a more formal way. When I joined my book club, it was to get me to read books I wouldn’t normally read. And let me tell you, it was taken me seriously out of my comfort zone and pushed my limits as a reader, which has been a wonderful experience! Starting a book club can be easy, but it is important to have a few ground rules in place. Believe me, having a few agreed upon standards and guidelines will help as you move along. I’d recommend checking out this article from the woman who may have started the book club trend –Oprah – on How to Start Your Own Book Club.

Based on my own very positive book club experiences, I’d definitely recommend that you set up a schedule, and each person in the club takes a turn picking the book. In my club, we all have different tastes, so that has really stretched all of us, which makes for very lively discussions. The other thing that is really important that everyone is clear that the discussion is about the book, and if someone doesn’t like the book, it’s not personal. And finally, book club should be fun! We make a point at the end of each discussion of casting the main characters if the book were turned into a movie, which is a great way to end the evening on a fun note.

Good luck with your professional, or personal book clubs! Comment below to share any tips or recommendations you may have!

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Maggie Patterson
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Twitter @magspatterson

Tags: book club at work, book club ideas for HR, setting up a book club