When you think of team building, do you think of company picnics? What about trivia competitions? While these activities can give your employees a chance to get to know each other, these activities aren’t perfect. A picnic leaves out all of your remote employees and a trivia night may be fun, but bonding and skill development opportunities are limited.
Team building is an investment for your business and your employees. Instead of going for the easy and free options that most people would rather avoid, consider an escape room. From in-person to online, an escape room is a fun opportunity for employees to get to know each other while practicing skills they can use in the office.
Engagement is Key
There’s nothing wrong with being an introvert, but they’re much quieter than your extroverted employees. That puts them at a higher risk of being overlooked. When you’re choosing a team-building activity, you want the entire team to be engaged. Having someone who sits on the sidelines and watches while the rest of the group gets involved in the activity defeats the purpose.
An escape room requires everyone to work together to make their way out. The rest of the group will notice. Everyone will need to communicate and trust each other if they want to solve the puzzles and defeat the room, and they will definitely want to defeat the room. No one likes to lose.
Don’t Forget Remote Employees
More businesses than ever are embracing a remote or hybrid work environment, but for many businesses, this is still relatively new. We know what team-building activities look like when everyone is in the same room, but you don’t want to leave out remote team members who live in a different time zone. That means you need to find new ways to encourage team building that won’t focus solely on the people who can attend in-person events.
With online escape room games, you don’t have to leave anyone out. Online rooms can also handle large numbers of employees, making them a good option for large businesses that have more people than in-person escape rooms can accommodate.
Improve Communication
Do you have two departments that are constantly misunderstanding each other? Escape rooms are a great exercise for teams that are struggling to communicate because communication is such a critical part of escaping. They will be forced to figure out how to talk to each other and communicate clearly.
Miscommunication at work leads to stress, increased risks of problems, and delays in your business, and could even have an impact on workplace safety. If your workers are stressed about deadlines or you have a high-stakes environment in general, that is going to make communication issues worse. With escape rooms, you’re giving your employees a fun and stress-free environment to work out those communication issues.
Have Fun Together
If you have a large group of employees, split everyone into smaller teams. Then, make it a competition to see which team can find their way out first. If your employees know there is a reward for the first team out, they’re more likely to take risks in their efforts to win. This method also increases the likelihood that everyone will want to get involved.
Work Together to Solve Problems
Problem-solving and critical thinking are essential workplace skills. What better way to put those skills to the test than an escape room? The problems your employees will face in an escape room are risk-free and safe. No one has to worry about someone getting hurt or losing their job if they make a mistake, so you’re also removing the stress factor. Participants can focus on working together to solve problems that will require them to think outside of the box because, in an escape room, the answers to the puzzles are not very obvious.
Get to Know Your Coworkers
When people like their coworkers, they tend to enjoy work more. They’re also more likely to stay longer before moving on to a new employer. That’s a big reason to encourage your employees to bond and make friends.
If you have teams that have low interaction rates with outside team members, try mixing things up. Put together teams that include people from multiple departments, and try to focus on pairing individuals that haven’t shared many (or any) projects. Who knows – you might end up introducing them to their next best friend.
Let the Fun Begin!
The next time you’re planning a team-building activity for your business, don’t settle for the same boring events or activities that everyone has done before and would prefer not to do again. Instead, let them try something that is unique, beneficial, and fun. Remember: this is an opportunity to invest in both your business and your employees!
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