Escape room team building is games that offer employees and teams the intellectual challenge of completing multiple puzzles under a time limit. Escape rooms are helpful for team building because they can improve communication, project management, problem-solving, and the ability to cope with difficult situations. Even if the scenario is hypothetical, the skills you learn in an escape room might have a long-lasting impact on your professional life.
You can hire an escape room company to run your event, create your own escape room, play an escape room board game, or do a digital escape room.
This article contains:
- escape rooms for the workplace
- DIY escape room team building activities
- escape room team building ideas
- benefits of escape room team building
Here we go!
Escape rooms for the workplace
An escape room is a fun and interesting method for members of a new team to bond quickly, whether working remotely or in a physical location. For well-functioning groups, such events may be a welcome chance to blow off some steam during particularly taxing work periods or celebrate a job well done. An escape room can improve core teamwork skills, including collaboration, communicating, decision-making, problem-solving, and physical and mental endurance. Also, escape rooms may help teams prepare for and practice handling stressful circumstances. However, if there is severe tension among your group, an escape room may not be the ideal option because of the time constraints, emphasis on teamwork, and potential for escalating existing conflict.
Before considering escape room team building ideas, you should consider individual personalities. Every team member should be comfortable working on a time-sensitive project close to their colleagues. However, the activity might not be a good idea if it causes a team member to feel uneasy, left out, or ashamed.
You should also consider if any of the scenarios or plots would be inappropriate for your employees or the company. Some team members may not feel comfortable participating in a game with a criminal or a horror subject, for example, due to personal reasons. Getting approval from your supervisor or the human resources department before hosting an escape room event is best.
When organizing an escape room event, consider the pros and cons of hosting the challenge within your office over booking a separate location. You can also choose to have your DIY escape room team building activities or purchase ready-made ones online. You also need a theme that reflects the atmosphere you want to create and the abilities you wish to develop.
It is vital to get your expectations for the task straight. The safety of team members is essential, and you need to ensure they feel engaged and energized throughout the activity. After the game, every team member needs downtime to catch their breath and think about their experience. When your colleagues return to work, remind them to implement the insights they gained about themselves and the team.
Escape Room Kits for Team Building
The following are a few escape room team building kits for your workplace:
1. Escape the Crate
Escape The Crate’s team-building kit contains a series of riddles and puzzles you can solve with your employees. The escape room puzzle box is great for small teams, and each package features a complete storyline with two to three hours of activity. In addition to the glossy papers, envelopes, and in-game objects in each escape room puzzle box, the cover is full of illustrations that also function as a game board for your escape room adventure.
Learn more about Escape the Crate
2. The Deadbolt Mystery Society
The Deadbolt Mystery Society is an immersive, story-driven mystery adventure. The escape room kit contains enough resources to follow the clues. Case files and other internet components bring each narrative to life.
One remarkable feature of this escape room puzzle box is that each story needs a QR code reader on any device, which means you can play this interactive game virtually. However, each stand-alone tale does not require any additional boxes.
Read more about the Deadbolt Mystery Society
3. Murder on the Mystery Express
Murder On the Mystery Express incorporates elements of a treasure hunt and an online escape room as a fun way for your team to bond and collaborate. Teammates will have to use their creative problem-solving abilities as they work together to solve puzzles, find clues, and progress through the mission.
With this puzzle box, you can lead your team through the experience, making it ideal for remote and dispersed teams. The kit also comes with Zoom and game links and a personalized invitation for players.
Learn more about Murder On the Mystery Express
4. The Conundrum Box
The Conundrum Box is an escape game sent to your door each month. The kit is an epic pirate adventure that takes you and your other players on a journey to solve puzzles and explore a world of music, cuisine, stories, and drink suggestions. Among the Conundrum Box’s notable characteristics is the inclusion of various puzzles and other game items. This escape room membership also includes a plethora of historical and literary personalities in the stories.
Learn more about the Conundrum Box
5. DIY Printable Escape Room
DIY Printable Escape Room is a tabletop escape room PDF that provides an escape into the festive season or the perfect game night. This team building activity revolves around a scenario where Santa abruptly vanishes, putting Christmas in jeopardy. The main task of this game is assisting the elves in their fight to keep the festive spirit alive.
A notable feature of this DIY Printable Escape Room is that players may transform the game into a treasure hunt by concealing game supplies throughout a defined region. This DIY Printable Escape Room gives around an hour of excitement. Read more on DIY Printable Escape room.
DIY Escape Room Team Building Activities
If you do not want to buy escape room kits, then you can host your DIY escape room in the office. It helps to remember that puzzles do not have to be overly complex to be enjoyable. Simply hiding puzzle pieces over the game area may significantly increase the puzzle’s replay value.
Choosing your theme is a straightforward process. It would help to consider the audience you will be hosting the event for and the vibe you want to create. You need to know which of your favorite activities makes the most sense as a unifying theme.
There are elements to serve as springboards to further your research. Some excellent jumping-off places are films, games, historical events, novels, TV series, and board games. If you are hosting a gathering for your team, then you may want to draw inspiration from a trip you had together or a shared experience. Creative thinking is what will set your game apart from the other team bonding rituals.
How to Create Team Building DIY Escape Room Puzzles
If you have ever participated in an escape room, then you know these games include plenty of puzzles, props, and layers of riddles that lead to even more puzzles. For best results, consider the game’s beginning and the finale in light of your chosen theme. When you have a beginning and an ending in mind, you can start developing puzzles for your game. The puzzles should be enjoyable to all participants, and they need not be very difficult or sophisticated.
Some puzzle ideas include:
1. Jigsaw puzzles
You should not underestimate the power of the jigsaw puzzle in your escape room’s prop arsenal. These puzzles are familiar and straightforward to create. You can hide the hints within the puzzle parts, and it is up to the players to assemble the puzzle and unearth them.
You can adjust the difficulty level in the problem to suit the target audience. For example, an alternative to a simple text message is a cipher that players must crack or a mathematical problem whose solution serves as a secret key.
2. Word Lock
Using these locks is a delight. You could have a box that unlocks when players say a particular word. Putting a gift tag on the sealed box with a hint will make solving the challenge much less complicated. A more advanced version of this hint would be to have it written in a cipher, such as Morse code or pigpen cipher.
3. Secret Codes and Cyphers
There is a wide variety of codes and ciphers available for use as hints, and you may even devise your own if you feel adventurous. Using secret codes to hide a message is simple, but deciphering them does take some work on the side of the participants. By reading messages, players may get clues about where to find items or how to complete a puzzle.
4. Combination Locks
If you have locks, then you can use any item with a number as a hint. Timepieces, the cooking timer, and the prices on your go-to delivery menu all fall under this category. Your goal will be to bring these items to the players’ attention. For instance, you could have a paper containing a takeout order and write down the items you want without including the prices. Then, the player must locate the takeout menu and decipher the corresponding numbers.
It is possible to drop blatant hints. For example, you could print the digits on paper and place it in a picture frame. The fun part is that the simplest hints may take a long time to uncover.
You can also use a maths puzzle for combination locks. Using other notations for the sums may provide variety to the problems. These notations may be a poem, a news article, a recipe, or the back of a jigsaw puzzle. One simple action might lead to another, so try layering your problems. To open the lock, you must locate the correct combination and solve the riddle.
Benefits of Escape Room Team Building
Team-building activities like escape rooms are becoming more popular as the demand for such events grows. Escape rooms have the following benefits for team building:
1. Improves Collaboration in a Team
Escape rooms may be the closest scenario for a work environment simulator. First, you form a team, get a task, followed by a deadline, and finally, you must work together to achieve that objective. Working together is the trickiest aspect and the point where many teams begin to fall apart. This activity is great for team building and collaboration since the group must work together to solve difficult puzzles and riddles, such as designing an online game to form a team.
2. Improves Communication Skills
The foundation of a successful team is the ability of its members to communicate with each other effectively. An escape room benefits team development since it pushes the team members to interact effectively under time constraints. Employees will get closer and more appreciative of one other if they manage to exit the chamber in the allotted time. This activity might be a great starting point for improving workplace communication and interactions amongst coworkers.
3. Enhances Time Management Skills
An escape room follows the same rules as a work assignment with a strict deadline. Team members tend to have varying levels of time management and stress tolerance. A team consists of workers with different personalities and characteristics who must work together in harmony. All members of an escape room team must make the most of their time and make split-second choices as the clock ticks down to zero.
4. Increases Competency Awareness
When allocating teams, managers should consider each employee’s unique talents. Every employee has a set of distinctive strengths that sets them apart from their peers. Knowing the abilities of each member of a team assists the group in performing at its highest level. These characteristics may not be apparent in the office, but they may stand out in a high-stress and high-fun setting.
5. Challenges Creative Thinking
Most situations the players will experience in an escape room game are quite out-of-the-ordinary. The room may appear like an office break room, but participants must use their creative thinking to solve cryptic riddles instead of dealing with customers or paperwork. Since players have honed their craft or have a system, office workers are used to getting things done quickly. An escape room is an excellent method to get your team thinking creatively and coming up with fresh ways to solve problems if they are accustomed to routines.
Conclusion
HR departments could turn to escape room activities to build more cohesive teams that can function well even while working remotely. In addition to the excitement and intrigue, escape rooms also provide excellent team-building and morale-boosting opportunities. Following the tips and examples highlighted in this post, you can set up an escape room that meets your company’s goals and engages your employees.
Next, learn about how long escape rooms should take.
FAQ: Escape room team building
Here are some common questions and answers about escape room team building.
How are escape rooms good for team building?
Escape rooms are good for team building because they foster communication, creative thinking, time management skills, and problem-solving abilities.
How do you use escape rooms for team building?
You can use escape rooms for team building by buying ready-made kits online or by creating DIY escape rooms. To create an escape room, you need to identify your goals, set the theme, and create puzzles for the game.
What is the purpose of escape room team building?
The purpose of escape room team building is to encourage teamwork among team members. Team building is a systematic process for fortifying and improving the performance of groups engaged in collaborative work. Planning office games that give your staff a fun chance to connect and learn how to work effectively is an essential element of team building.