Strength in Numbers: Turning Work Groups into Teams

Lin Good, a consultant, was Associate Librarian at Queen’s University.

There was a time when “how-to” books were on practical subjects
explaining how to build simple bookshelves, or design a new kitchen.
Those still exist, but to them have been added titles on equally
practical but more worldly topics, such as how to increase one’s
assets, or, as in this one, how to turn work groups into teams.

Bendaly is the head of a Toronto-based consulting firm with an
impressive group of corporate clients, including ESSO, IBM, and
Chrysler. In this book, she summarizes some of her best techniques for
helping managers and employees adapt to changing needs. The workouts, or
exercises for practicing suggested techniques, are eminently useful and
easy to follow.

The examples given and the language she uses are resonant of large
corporations with specialized projects and departments. However, the
methods of managing, of increasing productivity, and of using staff
effectively are equally applicable to any organization, even to small
family firms. Throughout the text there are suggestions for creating a
flexible, open workplace as opposed to the rigid hierarchical spaces our
society has known for so long. Bendaly’s strategies could, indeed, end
confrontational labor relations that have proven so costly and
destructive.

This book is intended mainly for business and industry, but it could be
of interest to many other readers. For anyone involved in working with a
group, even a volunteer group, there are many helpful hints on how to
stimulate discussion, run a productive meeting, or persuade reluctant or
apathetic colleagues to participate.