They offer different benefits for the participants that include improved problem solving skills and enhanced creativity. An escape room adventure can also cause increased team morale and more engaging meetings.

If you want to convince your boss to use an escape room for your next team building activity, then choose a few of the reasons below to add to your next discussion on this topic. 

1. Improves Team Camaraderie

Employees are one of a company’s greatest assets. Several studies show that employee happiness impacts job performance. Activities that can bond a group of people while also challenging them is a perfect team building exercise. Many of our escapees have reported that they still discuss what happened during their trip to Whole Brain Escape. 

2. Improves Communication Among the Team

There are many reasons that successful teams require good communication. Escape room activities require good communication among all the people in the room. The escape room experience will have your team sharing clues, following directions, and much more. 

3. Supports Collaboration

Escape rooms are made to foster team building skills. Participants are required to work together to reach their goals as fast as they can and be really clever at it. Some puzzles and challenges may require one person to direct the group in hunting for the next clue while another collaborates with someone else to solve a puzzle. 

4. Identify Team Strengths

We all meet challenges in different ways. We can see how people work in escape rooms as team members and what strengths emerge or role they assume. After you know your co-workers strengths, you can use that to become a more efficient team. 

Many escape rooms contain a variety of puzzles and challenges. With so many activities to complete in sixty minutes to escape, there will be an opportunity for everyone to display their talent. 

5. Enhances Creativity And Problem Solving

Problem solving is a very important part of an escape room. During the escape room experience you are faced with several puzzles and challenges as a sixty minute clock counts down to zero. When you add time constraints to figure out the clues, people will become extremely creative. Any team will work better with enhanced creativity and improved problem solving skills.

6. Improve Time Management Skills.

Almost every job today requires people to complete certain tasks by a deadline. We all know deadlines are just part of everyday life. When you combine the challenge of escaping a locked room with a deadline of sixty minutes, teams have to become resourceful, but also manage their time well. A team that can escape a room in the given time will be able to meet any project deadlines you give them.

7. Personality Traits on Display

Many teams will naturally gravitate towards a specific role in the first ten to fifteen minutes of the game.  Any observer will be able to clearly identify the leader, the best communicators, the detail-oriented ones and other roles. 

8. See the Team Leaders that Emerge

On any great team, there is usually one or two people who take the lead. Escape rooms can provide managers with insights that may cause them to see someone in a different light, or be pleasantly surprised at who emerges as a leader on the team. Escape rooms also provide natural leaders the opportunity to practice their leadership skills.

9. Improves Decision-Making Skills

Being able to make decisions quickly is a very useful and critical skill to have in the workplace. Employers need to rely on people that have confidence to make the tough decisions quickly. A successful escape room experience will require the same. 

Escape rooms provide realistic puzzles and challenges that will require decisions to be made under pressure. In escape rooms you’re making choices that will affect the entire team. For example, teams will have to decide when to ask for a clue, or which approach to take to a particular puzzle.

10. Great Memories

If employees can have fun and make great memories together, you will see more positive and productive experiences during their work day. Activities outside of work will help build stronger relationships among team members. 

We’ve listed just ten reasons why escape rooms are a great choice for your next corporate team building experience.

If you’d like to have your next team building activity at Whole Brain Escape, please contact us at havefun@wholebrainescape.com to schedule a quick chat for more information.

The post 10 Reasons Why Escape Rooms are Good for Team Building appeared first on Whole Brain Escape.

A good icebreaker can inspire creativity at your next Zoom meeting and help your team get to know each other better.

We’ve assembled five of our favorite virtual icebreakers that will have your team bonding in the first five minutes of your next virtual meeting.

1. Poll questions. A good question can get your team members talking…even on a Monday morning. Try www.polleverywhere.com to have meeting participants answer a question like “what’s your energy level today?” or “what’s your favorite work from home afternoon snack?”

2. Home scavenger hunt. You can ask your team to each snap a picture of the view from their window and post to the company intranet or team slack account.  View them all at the beginning of the meeting and make a list of things that people have to find in the pictures.

3. Show and tell. This is an oldie but goodie! Let your co-workers bring something to the meeting and talk about it for two minutes. One of our faves is to bring an item that’s older than you are and share why you brought it to the group.

4. Zoom background challenge. Find an image of your favorite 80’s music group or song and use it as your Zoom background for the next virtual meeting. **If you’re obsessed with the Wild West, book a time to visit our “Outlaws of the Weird West” escape room game at www.wholebrainescape.com

5. Team trivia quiz. Before the meeting, ask your meeting participants to submit “two truths and a lie” about themselves. Then use slido.com to do a quick team quiz to help everyone get to know each other better.

Quick icebreakers to help your meeting participants engage with each other from the very beginning may help with focus, problem solving and camaraderie.

And, when you’re ready to get your team out of their home offices, let Whole Brain Escape help you plan your next team building event.

Visit our website at www.wholebrainescape.com to learn more about the escape room adventures we offer or follow us on Facebook to see what we’re up to.

The post 5 Quick Ice Breakers to Make Any Virtual Meeting More Fun appeared first on Whole Brain Escape.

An escape room is a real-life interactive adventure game where your team works together to solve puzzles and riddles using clues, strategy, and cooperation.  The goal is to complete the objectives and escape. A variety of puzzle types and a shared goal make escape rooms perfect for team-building. Players work together and rely on the skills of everyone in the group to successfully break out. 

Another benefit of taking the team out of the 9-5 office environment and exposing them to a timed challenge, is that the team members let down their guard, pull together, and help each other overcome the room’s obstacles.

During this activity, different team roles may emerge based on people’s strengths.  If there are a variety of strengths represented, each person is more likely to fulfill one of the key positions that are crucial during a team escape.  

Scott Nicholson, a professor of Game Design and Development at Wilfrid Laurier University in Brantford, Ontario and the director of the Brantford Game Network game lab (BGNlab), has written research papers on escape rooms, meaningful gamification, and more. His blog, The Eight Roles for Escape Room Success, discusses the team positions that are useful for an escape room.  What’s interesting is that some of these roles are also important on a team in general. So by doing the escape room activity, your team is also learning how effectively they work together and what each person contributes to the team.  Here are five roles that are important in an escape room and on a project team.  

The Project Manager

The Project Manager facilitates the flow of information and oversees all activities taking place. They have a good understanding of the inner workings and dynamic of the group, and can serve as the main point of contact for the rest of the team. Once in the room they make sure that the information is flowing between everyone on the team, so people know which puzzles have been solved and which haven’t. They can also direct people to work on particular tasks, especially when someone is unsure about what they should be doing. 

The Quartermaster

With the Project Manager taking point on communication and information, the Quartermaster is focused on the resources and tools in the room. All the props, knickknacks, and objects in the room should be reviewed by the Quartermaster. This person makes connections between the objects and the puzzles that can be solved with them. Their role is most effective if people are diligent about reporting what they find to the Quartermaster.  For example, this role can make a connection between an object someone found on the shelf and a picture that someone else located on the back of a book. The Quartermaster should work in tandem with the Project Manager and the Searcher (who we’ll get to next).

The Searcher

The title says it all! One person on the team usually sees the devil in the details. This is the person looking inside the books, finding hidden messages on clues, and looking inside the small box inside the big box. Being in the weeds is not always a bad thing – provided the Searcher doesn’t linger there too long. The Project Manager can help ensure that the Searcher continues to move around the room. The Quartermaster tracks what objects and clues the Searcher uncovers. On a project team, Searchers support all members of the team by providing specific and detailed information that can be applied to the project.

The Worker

With the Project Manager, Quartermaster, and Searcher all focused on finding and disseminating information, and making connections on tasks that need to be done, the Worker is the person who executes on these things.  The Worker is persistent and diligent about following through on a puzzle solution. If the lock doesn’t open on the first try, the worker will go back to the puzzle and review it again. They are willing to ask for help when needed, especially when they are blocked.  They work best when they focus on solving a puzzle before moving on to the next one, as this reduces the amount of confusion about which puzzles are in play. This is an important supporting role on the team and depending on the size of the challenge, you may need several Workers.

The Thinker

The Thinker is curious and thinks outside the box. They understand various approaches for solving a puzzle and work with the team to determine the best strategy.  They help keep the team focused on solving problems and help people get back on track by looking at a problem with fresh eyes and offering alternative solutions. On a project team, the Thinker considers the bigger picture and future needs of the project, which helps the Project Manager and Quartermaster forecast what resources and solutions will be needed.

How do these roles map to your current team?  How can your team better understand their role and the role of others on the team?  What will they learn about themselves in an escape room?  Will they naturally gravitate to the roles they are assigned to at work, or will they gravitate to a different role? Regardless of what roles they have on the team, they will enjoy the experience of working together to overcome the challenges presented in an escape room!

Learn more about the Whole Brain Escape Team Building experience and book your next bonding adventure today!

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