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How to Run a Book Study: Home

4 Ways to Run a Book Study

Online: An online book club is fully asynchronous (not happening “in the moment”) and often uses tools like discussion forums, Learning Management Systems (LMS), social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram), or communication apps (Slack, Voxer, WhatsApp) to discuss the book. It doesn’t have to be text-based. Voxer is heavily audio-centric and both Flipgrid and Marco Polo are video-driven.

Virtual: A virtual book club is fully synchronous. It typically involves a meet-up at a particular time using a video conferencing app (Google Meets, Microsoft Teams, Zoom) but it can also occur as a phone conversation.

In-Person: Many book clubs occur in person. I love attending book clubs at a house, at a coffee shop, or at a local brewery. However, if you’re looking for professional development credit, you might have to meet up at school.

Hybrid: A blended or hybrid version combines any of the previous three formatting options.

Benefits

Why a Book Study Will Benefit Your Organization

Book studies at work are a serious employee development opportunity. A book study provides benefits for the employee—and for the employer when it is implemented with care.

  • In a book study, you learn new concepts and new ways of doing activities that they can apply in the workplace. Developing a consistent set of book study discussion questions enables everyone to apply the concepts on the job.
  • It builds camaraderie, comfort, and teamwork in the members who attend. It is a team-building activity that works.
  • When we learn the same concepts, by reading the same book, we share the same language and have heard the same ideas. It makes the application and adoption of the ideas and concepts more easily and seamlessly into the workplace.
  • The book study gives employees the opportunity to step up and practice leadership roles such as leading a group discussion or presenting to provide an overview of a chapter.
  • You can help your organization become a learning organization in which people continuously grow and develop.

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