Book Group

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.

Group arrangement: Breakout groups of 3 to 4 people (or a single group of 5 if total headcount is 5), followed by structured whole-room harvest.

Timing: UWT recommended 45-minute discussion session. Advance reading happens outside this meeting time.

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.