Human Resources know pretty well the importance of employee and team management. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone was caught by surprise and without realizing work from home became the new norm.
Of course, this unprecedented change to the workplace came with many benefits and many disadvantages. Working in the digital world led to even more communication challenges making team building activities a necessity.
As demand for team building activities is high, escape rooms seem to be an efficient way to improve communication and collaboration in the workplace. So, here are some of the escape room benefits for team building that they provide.
What are the Escape Room Benefits for the Workplace?
1. Improves Team Building Skills
Probably an escape room is the closest you can get to a workplace simulator. First, you are assigned to a team; second, your team has a goal, third there is a deadline for that; and lastly, you need to work together. And this is the most challenging part and the point where teams start tearing off and fall apart. A virtual escape room activity benefits team building as the team has to work together to solve complicated riddles and puzzles, for instance preparing an online game to build a team, and there is no room for individual effort.
2. Enhances Communication Skills
The basis of a performing team is good communication skills between its members. An escape room benefits team building as it forces the team members to communicate with each other under time pressure effectively.
As an escape room provides fun activity, employees will get closer and appreciate each other more as they will share a moment of success if they manage to escape on time. This can serve as an excellent basis to improve team communication at the workplace and improve employee relations.
3. Builds Time Management Skills
As an ongoing project at work needs to be completed before a specific timeframe, the same principle applies to an escape room. Team members tend to have different time management skills, some work well under pressure, and others don’t.
Overall, a team is comprised of a variety of characters and personalities that must fit together and work harmoniously. In an escape room situation, as the time to escape is fast ticking away, all members need to make the best of their time and make split-second decisions.
4. Increases Competence Sharing Awareness
When managers are assigning teams, they are, or they better should consider the individual skills of each employee. All employees have specific strong personal competencies that distinguish them from the others.
Knowing every team member’s strengths helps a team to work at its full potential. It may be possible that those qualities are not visible at the workplace, but in a stressful and at the same time fun environment, those qualities may shine.
Conclusion
In need to create more bonded teams at the workplace that can work together efficiently even during remote working, HR departments should start looking towards escape room activities. They not only offer a fun activity full of mystery and immersion, but they also create perfect opportunities for team building and boosting the team spirit.
Have a Look at ER-SE European project
The escape room benefits for team building and generally for the workplace have not gone unnoticed by the European officials. ER-SE is a European project dedicated to creating innovative escape rooms that transform escape rooms into innovative rooms that help the participants enhance their entrepreneurship skills, teamwork and boosts their chances at the labour market.
To learn more about escape rooms and ER-SE Project, please check out the project’s official website.