An Inside Look at How Virtual Escape Rooms Work for Corporate Team Building
Every manager has experienced it. You just finished a big project, and you notice that your team morale is a little bit low. They were burning the candle at both ends and there were even a few conflicts that arose because of it.
It’s time for a team-building event, and what better option than an escape room? Only, there’s a problem. You have one team member in Canada, one in Australia, and two more in the Philippines. How are you ever going to get them into a room together?
Since 2020 when so many industries transitioned to operate remotely, it’s been difficult for managers to plan these kinds of events. Now, there’s an easy answer: virtual escape room corporate team building.
In this handy guide, we’ll take a look behind the curtain and explain exactly what virtual escape room team building is all about, what kind of benefits it can provide, and then give you a few suggestions on some of the storylines for your next event.
Ready to solve your first puzzle? Just scroll down to get started!
Virtual Escape Rooms Make Corporate Events More Fun
More than 25 percent of all jobs in North America will be remote by the end of 2022, and that number is only expected to rise through 2023. That’s a lot of workers that can feel disconnected from the rest of their team or neglected by their management.
Luckily, there’s an easy way to bring your team together and get them working toward a common goal–one that’s a lot more fun than their regular job.
What would you rather do, create a product backlog, or go on a fantasy adventure through the enchanted forest, trying to break a witch’s curse before it traps you forever?
Sound interesting? Let’s dig a little deeper.
What is an escape room?
So what is an escape room anyway? An escape room is traditionally a physical adventure game in which players are locked in a room and have to:
- Find clues and solve puzzles to escape the room
- Work together as a team
- Beat the racing clock
- Have a lot of fun!
It’s great for team building because it encourages communication and collaboration. You might need to decipher a table of runes to get the secret message, mix a potion from a set of ingredients, or disarm a bomb.
The best escape rooms are challenging but not impossible. They provide just enough of a mental workout to make you think but don’t require any specialist knowledge or skills. This is why they’re so popular – they’re the perfect way for people from all walks of life to come together and have some fun.
What is a virtual escape room?
When the world came to a sudden halt in 2020, traditional in-person escape rooms did too. Just like always though, a problem can lead to innovation, and virtual escape rooms were born!
Just like the physical kind, virtual escape rooms are all about teamwork and collaboration. You and your team will be working together to solve puzzles and find clues that will help you escape the room.
They’re perfect for team-building events with people who are spread out all over the globe. You can all work together in the same room, no matter where in the world you are.
The guided experience is as easy as a Zoom call (which we are all way too familiar with at this point) and needs nothing other than a stable internet connection. The best part? No limit on the number of participants.
With things starting to get a little back to normal, there’s also the option of hybrid experiences that can bring escape room fun directly to your event. We’ll get into that a little bit later; for now, let’s talk about how virtual escape rooms can help corporate team building.
Virtual Escape Rooms Have Improved Team Building Online
Picture this: a thief has broken into the Firestone Museum of History and stolen a priceless artifact without leaving so much as a fingerprint – or so it seems. You and your band of trusty detectives must discover clues along the way to find the Eye of the Sun before it disappears forever!
That’s just one of the mysteries available from Puzzle Break’s virtual escape room catalog, intentionally developed to encourage teamwork, multi-tasking, and collaboration.
It’s easy to see why there would be benefits to virtual escape room corporate team building, by getting people to work together and grow in various ways.
- Enhancing Communication: One of the main advantages of virtual escape rooms is that they force players to communicate better, a key factor in building successful teams. This is because players have to share information to progress through the game. As a result, people learn how to better articulate their thoughts and ideas.
- Developing Leadership Skills: In virtual escape rooms, team members are often required to take on specific roles to progress. As a result, people can develop their leadership skills by taking on various responsibilities within a team setting that may be otherwise unfamiliar to them.
- Encouraging Cooperation: Many virtual escape rooms require players to work together to solve the puzzles. This can help encourage cooperation and teamwork within a team. By working together, individuals can learn how to better trust and rely on one another.
- Improving Problem-Solving Skills: Puzzles are a central component of most virtual escape room games. As such, they provide an excellent opportunity for people to improve their problem-solving skills, something they can take back to their work once the game is finished.
- Developing Time Management Skills: Time is often of the essence in virtual escape rooms. If a bomb is going to detonate in 30 minutes, you better not take 15 on that chalkboard code–it’s probably a red herring anyway!
- Enhancing Creativity and Critical Thinking Skills: The whole point of an escape room is to think outside the box to solve puzzles or find a new way to approach an old problem.
- Reducing Stress Levels: Sometimes all you need for improved teamwork is to reduce the stress levels of your employees. No one communicates well together when you’re overworked and beating an escape room can even de-escalate tensions by providing a shared sense of accomplishment.
What is needed for a virtual escape room?
If you’re reading this, you probably already have everything you need to participate. It’s simple: a computer, a microphone, a webcam, and a stable internet connection. If your workforce is remote, this isn’t going to be a problem.
“But what if we use Microsoft Teams, not Zoom?” I hear you asking.
At Puzzle Break, the virtual escape room experience can be catered to the teleconference platform of your choice.
Our Recommended Escape Room Picks
Intrigued? You should be. There are many different options you can look through for your next event but here are our top three choices for virtual escape room corporate team building:
Hackfiltration
Our team of hero-hackers will have to join the Red Warren Resistance to take down the latest threat from the Firestone Corporation. Work together to make sure their super weapon isn’t completed in time!
This 90-minute experience is great for large teams and needs no previous escape room experience. It is led by a Puzzle Break representative who will guide players through the story, giving them as much (or as little) help as they need.
If there was an adventure to get started with, this is it, as it offers a great introduction to the world of virtual escape rooms.
The Winter Tail of Jackalope Frost
Want a seasonal adventure for the dreary winter months? Assemble a team to try and stop Jackalope Frost’s mischief and foil his plans in time. This timely classic will help improve team morale during the toughest part of the year while giving everyone a bump of seasonal spirit.
School for Spies
It’s time to hit the streets before you hit the books! The final exam is approaching for this year’s global intelligence class but the professor is nowhere to be found. In this chase around the world, you’ll have to test your team’s communication skills while also making sure you inspect even the tiniest detail.
Perfect for managers that want to encourage outside-the-box thinking, this offers a bit more challenging experience but is still more than accessible for even the greenest escape artists!
These are just a few of the possible storylines to follow at Puzzle Break, make sure to check them all out before making your decision!
Come Visit Us in Person, or We’ll Come to You!
You might be thinking “a virtual option is great, but what if we want to get people in a room together again?” It’s been a long few years without much interaction, so we’re right there with you!
Luckily, we have other solutions that can fit your needs
In-Person Escape Rooms
In the Seattle area and want to drop by for a visit? Come experience the award-winning escape rooms we have to offer. These in-person adventures are the perfect way to foster team building and develop:
- Creativity
- Critical thinking
- Problem-solving skills
- Communication abilities
Each escape room has its own set of puzzles and challenges, so your team will have to work together if they want to make it out in time. Our rooms are designed for groups of 2-8 players, so gather up your buddies and book a room today!
Portable/Hybrid Team Building
If you can’t make it out to us but still want the feeling of an in-person adventure, our portable escape rooms are a great option. These room-sized puzzles can be set up in any location and are perfect for corporate events no matter what venue you’re using.
The Grimm Escape
After falling into a witch’s trap, our party has been transported to a faraway land and must work together to break the curse keeping them there. If they aren’t able to do it in time, they might be stuck forever!
This fantasy adventure offers a great break from reality and will help your team establish trust, teamwork, and camaraderie. The best part? It’s available as a virtual escape room and a hybrid option we can bring to you.
A Hollywoodland Mystery
Someone is dead, and your team of detectives needs to follow the clues to catch the murderer. In this classic whodunit, you’ll be thrown off by misleading paths while overlooking things right in front of you.
The ticking timer is sure to cause excitement–and perhaps a little anxiety–as your team tries to work out who is behind this dastardly deed.
Start Solving!
If your team needs a pick-me-up, or you just want to encourage more collaborative work, escape rooms are a great way to do it. No matter where you are in the world there is a solution that can fit your needs.
Whether it a virtual escape room corporate team building event, a hybrid model brought directly to your venue, or a visit to an in-person location, this is the answer.
So pull on your detective hat, slide on those fingerless hacking gloves, or whip out your best magnifying glass and start escaping that room today!
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