Your conference room has been transformed into a mysterious escape room and you’re full of excitement for the puzzles that await you. Two cool nerds in bright blue shirts welcome you, start the clock, and set you on your way. After celebrating the winners and a job well done by all, they pack up their magic cart and depart, until you book BreakoutIQ for your next team-building exercise. But just who were those enigmatic facilitators?

As a BIQ facilitator, our job is to awaken a sense of joy, curiosity, and play in our participants. We’d like to share with you how we accomplish this and offer a few insider tips for your next escape room!

To learn more about BreakoutIQ’s escape room offerings, click here

We’re There For You

The job of an escape room facilitator doesn’t stop once the games are underway; we are just as engaged in the event as you are.

We are constantly observing, giving personal attention with a personable approach. We want everyone to enjoy themselves in their own way, and every team is a little different. We’re not just looking to see how fast you’re solving the puzzles; the real winners are those who work together and have fun together.

We uniquely tailor our events to the client. We take into consideration not just the activity and the occasion for putting on a fabulous team-building event, but also your overall goals for your company–be it to strengthen your community, welcome and integrate new hires, challenge yourselves with new ways of problem-solving, or just have a good time together.

When teams need a gentle nudge in the right direction, we offer helpful clues that don’t take away the pleasure of solving it yourself. We use hints to keep up a sense of competition so everyone feels like they did their very best and leave the event feeling energized and satisfied.

We’re a Team

We all have preferred communication and collaboration styles. Just as you are learning how to work optimally with your colleagues, we’ve perfected the art of co-facilitation.While one of us is among the crowd offering assistance, our partner is hard at work tracking each team’s progress and relaying vital information about how much time is left, which teams are behind or in the lead, and if we need to make any changes on-the-fly to better accommodate everyone’s needs. Teamwork is as important in running the event as it is in completing it!

What We Enjoy About Facilitating:
While we all share a love of puzzles, we also take great joy in what we do and what we observe during an event. Here’s what some of our facilitators had to say about their experience running BIQ escape rooms:

Dean: I love how people transform over the course of the game. They might start nervous or unsure, or not know each other that well, and go through the first few challenges slowly and with apprehension. But they grow into an energized and solid team, sometimes literally running across the room to excitedly share information! It’s amazing to watch that shift in energy.

Ava: The groups can be so diverse–new hires or senior management, tech companies or finance–but they still dive into the material and enjoy it in a similar way. It’s great to see that our events can deliver a high level of engagement regardless of who’s playing.

Tyler: It’s a unique role–you’re not a teacher, a referee, or a judge. You’re not making sure everyone finishes or even that they all follow the rules. You’re more like a host at a party, making sure everyone is comfortable, making connections, having fun. You keep everything flowing.

Our Advice to You

Drawing on our experience from running countless events, we’d like to pass on a few words of advice and encouragement for you before embarking on your next BIQ escape room:

Ava: Talk to each other! Read the instructions out loud, say what you’re thinking and doing. You can avoid losing information (and materials!) by keeping everyone in the loop.

Cristina: Don’t overthink the instructions! It’s not always as cryptic as you think it is. Sometimes the answers are right in front of you. Look at everything you have and what’s in the room. It’s all there for a reason!

Karen: Be open to working together and communicating with your colleagues in ways that you haven’t before. Within your team, try on different roles, and let people decide for themselves what to work on. You’ll do better solving the puzzle that interests you most, so let delegation come about organically. This is an ideal low-stakes environment to explore team dynamics. Have fun!

Ready To Have Our Fabulous Facilitators Lead Your Next Team Outing?

If you’re interested in booking an event with us, please visit our home page or click the “Contact Us” button on the top of your screen!

We hope you’ll join us soon!