Escape rooms have been one of the most popular group activities of recent years. One reason for this is that they are not only great fun, but they also make for great team-building activities. But if you haven’t found yourself locked in an escape room yet, and you’re not exactly sure what they are or how they can help with team-building, then read on.
What Are Escape Rooms?
If you’ve watched the movie ‘Escape Room’, don’t start panicking; there is no risk of fatal injury (or even slight injury) in the escape rooms that have been popping up all over the country in recent years. Escape rooms are completely safe for all ages and are all about using brains, and not brawn, to solve the problems required to get you out of the place.
To escape a room requires problem-solving skills, the ability to think creatively, the maturity to work as a part of a team, and the patience to work out the solutions. However, they are much more than that. Escape rooms are an unforgettable experience and that’s the good sort of unforgettable, not the bad.
How Does It All Work?
The basic premise of an escape room is to solve the puzzle, in order to be allowed to leave the room. Once you’re locked inside, you are on a time limit. So, while there is some time to think, the clock is ticking which ramps up the pressure, and the excitement levels too!
The puzzles that come in the Houdini Room in Southampton, consist of different forms and levels and difficulties. Most escape rooms have the same sort of puzzles though. These could be:
1. Number and Word Puzzles
2. Moving Objects Around
3. Surrounding Environment
4. Hidden Clues and Objects
5. Out-of-Place or Unusual Objects
6. Logic and Combination Puzzles
The trick to solving an escape room is to try as many things out in the time you have possible. Thinking creatively and logically, not being afraid to put forward suggestions, working collaboratively, and being as observant as possible, will all help you succeed. And aren’t these all the same kinds of things that help you succeed in the workplace?
Why Use Escape Rooms for Team-Building
Let’s be honest here, the mere mention of team-building days out usually gets most members of staff mentally working out what sickness they’re going to have on the day in question. And yet, it has been proven that team-building improves almost every aspect of a company’s performance. So why do employees dislike team-building so much?
Obviously, it depends very much on the individual members of staff but quite often it’s because the company has put absolutely no effort or expense into making it an exercise that is actually beneficial. In most cases, it feels that the business is just going through the motions for the benefit of some vague notion of what should be done.
However, with escape rooms, employees feel that companies have made a real effort to engage them in the exercise. Additionally, because the success or failure of any escape room is primarily based on participants working together, there is a genuine need for employees to work together to succeed. Offer a prize for the winning team and you’ll finally have a team-building day that ticks all the boxes and everyone enjoys.