Time For Some Sun and Games

Clocks ticking. Keyboards tap, tap, tapping away. The droning on of yet another meeting. The processed air of the air conditioner wafts over your skin, giving you a brief chill. And then an alert pops up signaling the start of a new portion of the day – it reads: “2:00 pm – Scavenger Hunt”

Scavenger hunts are a perfect way to give a necessary break to a long monotonous workday. Uncuffed from your desk, the sunshine re-energizes you and your team. Glazed-over faces become cheers of excitement. Getting outside and running around in competition creates a team bonding experience without the stressors that trigger us in our daily routine.

BreakoutIQ’s Scavenger Hunts are Everywhere!

Break Up the Work Day With Some Outdoor Fun!

Get out of the office and into the world! One of the most obvious benefits of a scavenger hunt is the opportunity to enjoy the weather. A little sunshine and movement can go a long way for making your entire team happy and productive.

Breaking out of the office allows you and your teammates to break out of your shell. This informal setting promotes silliness, laughter, and creativity that’s not mentally taxing. By doing something simple and fun, teammates can relax together, letting barriers fall and enabling people to work together in a more seamless way. Plus, each team brings their experience back to the office to be shared with the others, creating ongoing moments to bond over.

Scavenger Hunts are Great for Any Location and Agenda:

Scavenger hunts are one of the few activities where a one-size fits all mentality really works. Whether your team is large or small, the scalability factor makes hunts one of the easiest activities to create for your team. Plus, they are inherently flexible because they can include a range of different challenges that everyone can connect to. Some people will enjoy finding clues, and solving puzzles while others will be excited by creative photo challenges. Scavenger hunts are a choose-your-own-adventure that can work for anybody. By choosing what’s most appealing to each person on the team, everyone will feel like they are having a rewarding experience.

Furthermore, scavenger hunts can be easily tailored to fit any objectives or agenda your team may have.

• PLACE-BASED DISCOVERY: Exploring a new neighborhood might allow you to discover a park that was right under your nose. Searching your own campus can allow you to stop and actually notice what that statue you pass everyday is all about. Get people out and exploring in a new way.
• BUILDING INTERPERSONAL UNDERSTANDING: Want your team to get to know each other better? Challenges can require discussion, such as finding out which teammates have lived the furthest away from each other and taking a photo representing that.
• PROMOTE TEAM LEARNING GOALS: Want to have your team connect with the company and office culture? Want to celebrate diversity and inclusion? Have some challenges where players find a local landmark and incorporate it into a 10 second video highlighting the strength of their team’s diversity, culture, working styles, or more.
• HOLIDAY FUN: Just want to celebrate a holiday? Get your team to take a picture of themselves making fake snow angels.
• ANYTHING ELSE! No matter what your goal, teams will have fun thinking critically, creatively, and just being outdoors.

BreakoutIQ’s game designers have built both custom and non-custom scavenger hunts in dozens of cities and offices, and we can attest to how each of those different approaches to creating a game will result in a memorable experience.

Scavenger Hunts Illuminate and Help Build Positive Team Dynamics:

In school, all children looked forward to recess. While they think of it as a gift, it is actually the necessary break for them to continue to be productive in the classroom and connect to their fellow students. The same is true for adults. Breaks in the workplace actually increase productivity, as it cares for people’s social, physical, and mental wellbeing. This time of “play” ignites their brains and helps develop new ways of thinking. Being connected to coworkers increases productivity and can help minimize the everyday stressors of a work environment.

Scavenger hunts place your team in a structured, yet casual environment that naturally induces fun and goofy social interactions that a regular happy hour won’t provide. Right off the bat, interactions will go beyond the usual office chatter; the adventure the team is on will drive the conversation. This can help unite both members who have worked next to each other for months and people who only ever communicate to each other via email. By splitting up a large group into small teams, unique stories will come to life, creating a bond which can then be shared throughout your entire company.

Most importantly, scavenger hunts provide a unique platform for coworkers to be vulnerable, which, according to studies, is advantageous in the workplace. By putting everyone in a new setting, both physically and experientially, it in turn puts everyone on a level playing field; a little out of their element. Each challenge prompts team members to be courageous by putting themselves out there- whether it be creating a ridiculous photo, or challenging another team member’s thinking on the direction of a puzzle. By working together in this new way, outside of their comfort zones to achieve a common goal, a sense of trust is created. Trust that ideas will be heard and considered, trust that being wrong doesn’t end in judgement, trust that you can rely on your fellow teammates to back you up.

The best teams will take this trust and communicate in a productive and respectful way, a trait that benefits everyone in and out of the office.

Interested in a Scavenger Hunt for Your Team?

With so many creative options to have a fun, memorable, and constructive team experience, it’s no wonder that scavenger hunts are one of the most popular team building activities.

If you’re interested in booking a scavenger hunt for your team, BreakoutIQ is the perfect fit. Our games are designed specifically with corporate teams in mind, and can cater to any group size at the same time, from 10s to 100s. We have many pre-built games across the San Francisco Bay Area and New York Tri-State Area, and can also build new, custom games in or near your office upon request!

To learn more or book a BreakoutIQ scavenger hunt, click here

We hope you’ll join us soon!