Many of our favorite funny celebrities got their start in comedy with the famous improvisational theater group Second City in Chicago, Illinois. The rules for improv turn out to be great guidelines for anyone involved in various types of team-based work. Using the rules to improvisational comedy may seem like a strange way to improve your culture and business, but the foundations of effective improv are also the foundations for effective communication and teamwork: creativity and innovative thinking, active listening, open communication, trust, reciprocity, engagement, effective leadership, responding to mistakes or failures ... the list goes on.

As Jack Stack says, “One of the challenges in leadership is you need to know when to push, when to hug, when to cheer, when to boo, and when to kick people in the butt.” For any individual in a leadership role, there are endless responsibilities, people and tasks to keep in order. We've compiled a checklist of tips and questions to help our Great Game leaders reflect on their leadership styles and stay on track. Check out our best practices for GGOB leaders below!

Attracting and retaining top talent is the #1 challenge most businesses face in today's competitive marketplace. Organizations that practice OBM (open-book management) have a major competitive edge that they should use to their advantage in all recruiting efforts.

United Heating, Cooling & Plumbing is new to The Great Game of Business®. After several employees had read the book, they decided to take the leap into open-book management earlier this year at their two locations including more than 300 employees. United hopes to embrace their employees' excitement for transparency and OBM, keep this energy going and continuously better communication within the company by implementing the Great Game of Business. As United is rolling out the Great Game to their company, their leaders are using a more innovative approach to introducing GGOB practices to their employees by releasing fun and informative videos. We spoke with Sarah Lambert in Process Improvement about how they have begun the process at United. Check out their videos and our Q&A below!

You may know that Zingerman’s Roadhouse is a full-service restaurant in Ann Arbor, MI, with a reputation for really good American food and great service - and you many also know that we’ve practiced open-book management since opening in 2003. That’s not to say we’ve always done it perfectly, at any of the Zingerman’s businesses! One thing we’ve learned time and again is that the culture of the huddle is a good pulse on how the business is doing overall, and that’s even more true when you’re talking about the team in the kitchen.

Unemployment is under 4%, the lowest it has been in 10 years, and today’s talent market is a lot more competitive. Is your talent strategy ready? Don’t let the best candidates fall into the laps of your competitors. Instead, up your game to become and remain an employer of choice. Here are three impact areas that will elevate your employer brand to attract and retain top talent:

The daily huddle is the heartbeat of the Great Game of Business®. It’s part of most any game - a quick, efficient team meeting where you adjust your game plan and then get back in the game and play. But are all staff huddles the same? No! We find you can customize your huddle technique based on the: Type of business – a law firm huddle may differ from a machine shop huddle Type of work – a software team huddle may differ from the financial team’s huddle Culture – some are fun, loud, calm, quick, loose, tight – it just depends on what motivates, works, and fits your team Environment – the way you huddle in a library may differ from how you do it on a loud machine shop floor or with a virtual team on a webcast

You have probably heard the cliche, "People want to buy from people they know, like and trust." Undoubtedly, you could change that to employees want to work for companies they know, like and trust. Let's have a discussion about attracting talent and employee retention. As growth consultants, we witness companies intensively focus on acquiring new customers and put far less emphasis on customer retention or workforce engagement. These businesses are ignoring critical economic drivers of success. It is essential to establish a People+People Plan to create a positive brand experience for all stakeholders. So how do you build a brand reputation that attracts both customers and employees?

At The Great Game of Business®, we love to see the progress of our practitioners and hear about their Great Game journeys. Check out the video below featuring Big Brothers Big Sisters Lone Star's live Huddle from the BBBS National Conference as they reveal results from their first year of implementing the Great Game.

Kiolbassa Smoked Meats, 2014 Great Game Rookie of the Year and subsequent All-Star Finalist, celebrated achieving their first quarter employee bonus in a unique way. Instead of shaking hands and handing out bonus checks, President Michael Kiolbassa decided to send videos to the entire team during "Bonus Week" to show his appreciation for their hard work. In addition, Mike wanted to emphasize the company’s core values and how he saw those values in action as an instrumental factor to hitting the bonus.