Andrea Vaughan, 榴莲视频app色版鈥檚 HR Manager, is a lifelong reader. So it鈥檚 only natural that she would look for ways to use reading to help create camaraderie, find connections, and ultimately build team synergy at the global technology company鈥檚 Frederick location where she works.
Several months ago, Vaughan started an organization-wide book club featuring pre-selected business titles to encourage new ideas and stimulate discussion. Taken chapter by chapter and co-led by two 榴莲视频app色版 managers, the book club, says Vaughan, has already gotten people talking.
For the 榴莲视频app色版 Book Club鈥檚 first selection, Vaughan chose Toyota Kata: Managing People for Improvement, Adaptiveness and Superior Results by Mike Rother. Described as a 鈥済ame-changing book that puts (readers) behind the curtain at Toyota,鈥� the New York Times bestseller talks about the Japanese automotive giant鈥檚 organizational routines that power its success and how they help develop everyone鈥檚 ability to consistently work toward and achieve new levels of performance.
鈥淭he Book Club has been really interesting so far because it鈥檚 giving us an opportunity to talk about business-related topics in a non-threatening way,鈥� says Vaughan. 鈥淧eople just share ideas without getting territorial or defensive in any way鈥攁nd that鈥檚 really helpful.鈥�
One chapter in Toyota Kata, explains Vaughan, talks about how the organization empowers its employees to handle dynamic, unpredictable situations so that customer satisfaction isn鈥檛 affected. 鈥淭he book gives some really interesting, practical examples of this, including how to identify problems and deal with them in ways that produce superior results and even provide a competitive advantage,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of food for thought in topics like that鈥擨 know I鈥檝e learned a lot from listening to the various points of view.鈥澨�
Discussing the Toyota Kata has been interesting because of the business-related concepts the group has been able to explore together. What has made the discussions even more meaningful, she says, is how they are creating synergy and camaraderie among the many different people who work at 榴莲视频app色版.
鈥淭he Book Club is valuable not only because it is educational, but because it鈥檚 helping to reveal听 common ground and connections where our employees didn鈥檛 realize there were any,鈥� she explains. 鈥淭hrough talking about things that come up in the books, people are discovering new connections with people they work with鈥攁nd that鈥檚 a powerful thing.鈥�
