Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.

Help me prepare and run the exercise below. First ask for my participant count, time, setting, access needs and intended result. Check these against the stated limits. Use the supplied rules and materials. Explain any proposed changes before using them, and label them as adaptations. Do not invent source claims or require personal disclosure. Give me one step at a time when I say start. I manage the people, physical activity and clock; do not claim to observe the room. Ask me what happened before choosing a next step.

Reference revision: 476e763a2ee6a4ff5870810c3320a99f7c9ea25bf22c6f96a91804bf3fbe98c9

# Book Group

Participants read a shared book ahead of time and meet to discuss key takeaways, practical workplace applications, and future team actions.

**Time:** 45 minutes. UWT recommended 45-minute discussion session. Advance reading happens outside this meeting time.
**People:** 4 to 24. Breakout groups of 3 to 4 people (or a single group of 5 if total headcount is 5), followed by structured whole-room harvest.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Exchange insights from a common text, identify concrete ideas the group can apply to their shared work, and agree on future reading process.
**Use it when:** Use when a team wants to study a professional topic, share perspectives on a common resource, or align on work practices over time.
**Skip it when:** Skip when participants do not have advance time to read, or when immediate same-day meeting outcomes are required without pre-work.

## Materials and tools

- One copy of the selected book or chapter per participant (print or digital)
- One discussion worksheet or blank note sheet per participant
- One pen or pencil per participant
- One digital whiteboard or flip chart and marker for shared harvest

## Before participants arrive

1. Select the book by team vote, consensus, or organizer assignment at least two to four weeks in advance.
2. Distribute physical or digital copies to all participants.
3. Arrange room seating into tables of 3 to 4 people (or one table of 5 if total headcount is 5), or prepare breakout rooms online.
4. Post the discussion prompts on a screen, flip chart, or digital board.

## Say this to open

Welcome to our book group session. We have all had time to read our selected text. Today we will spend our time examining key insights from the reading and deciding what practical ideas apply to our everyday work. You do not need to have finished every page to contribute. We will start by jotting down our individual takeaways, discuss them in small groups, and then collect concrete ideas as a full room.

## How to run it

### 1. Introduce prompts and individual reflection (5 minutes)

Explain the meeting purpose and read the opening script. Direct participants to spend four minutes writing silently on their worksheet: one idea or passage that stood out, and one practical application for the team. Anyone who skimmed or did not finish notes what they observed from the sections they saw or their related experience.

### 2. Small group discussion (20 minutes)

Divide participants into groups of 3 to 4 (form a single group of 5 if exactly 5 attend). Each person takes up to 4 minutes to share their chosen passage and potential application. Groups identify 1 or 2 concrete recommendations or questions to bring to the wider room. Call time at halfway to ensure everyone speaks.

### 3. Whole-room harvest (12 minutes)

Reconvene the full room. Ask one spokesperson from each small group to share one specific workplace application they discussed. Record these points on the shared flip chart or digital board. Limit each group report to 90 seconds so up to 8 subgroups can present within the 12 minutes.

### 4. Group debrief and next steps (8 minutes)

Facilitate a brief debrief using the provided questions. Agree on how the group will handle book selection or rotation for the next cycle, and whether extra copies will be circulated or donated.


## Debrief questions

- Which concept from the book is most directly relevant to our team right now?
- What is one practice or experiment we want to try based on today's discussion?
- How did this reading cadence work, and how should we select our next text?

**Finished output:** A documented list of practical takeaways and agreed team actions recorded on a shared chart or document, along with agreed next steps for book selection and book distribution.

## Remote

Run via video conference. Post discussion prompts in chat. Send participants to breakout rooms of 3 to 4 people for step 2. Bring everyone back to the main room and record shared takeaways on an editable digital whiteboard or shared document.

## Hybrid

Keep in-person attendees together at tables and place remote participants in dedicated virtual breakout rooms. Use an online document or shared board so both in-person and remote spokespersons can read and contribute takeaways during the harvest.

## Access and participation choices

- Provide the text in multiple formats (physical print, digital text, or audiobook) during the pre-reading period.
- Allow participants who could not complete the reading to reflect on specific chapter summaries, practical workplace themes, or choose to act as timekeeper or note-taker for their breakout.

## If the session gets stuck

**Several participants did not finish reading the book before the session.**

Acknowledge this openly at the start. Invite them to focus on introductory concepts, executive summaries, or how the title topic relates to their current projects.

**One person dominates the small group conversation with literary critique.**

Remind groups to keep turns to four minutes each and steer discussion toward practical workplace application rather than academic critique.


## Terms used here

- Harvest: Gathering key ideas and action points from small groups into one shared group record.

## Participant material: Book Discussion Worksheet

BOOK DISCUSSION WORKSHEET

Book Title: _____________________________________
Author: _________________________________________

1. Key Takeaway:
What passage, concept, or piece of evidence caught your attention, and why?




2. Workplace Application:
How does this idea apply to our current work, team processes, or shared goals?




3. Group Recommendation:
One action or experiment our team should consider based on this reading:





## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Teampedia as 'Book Group'. The source lists collaborative reading, free-form or led discussion, debriefing the book selection process, and optional charity donation of extra copies.

Retained the core mechanic from Teampedia: selecting a book in advance, reading it individually, discussing in person or online, exploring team impact, and debriefing the selection process or donation of copies. UWT structured the meeting into a concrete 45-minute facilitation flow with small-group breakouts, a discussion worksheet, and explicit hybrid mechanics to replace the unstructured format in the source.

[Teampedia](https://www.teampedia.net/wiki/Book_Group)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/book-group/