You can use a treasure hunt to strengthen and build your team
Being successful in the workplace requires contributions from all team members. A strong team is important to meet company goals and function more efficiently in the workplace. That’s why it’s important for a team of employees to perform as they are called, as a team. There are many ways to develop and build a team atmosphere in the workplace. One great way is to sponsor a team scavenger hunt.
What is a treasure hunt?
I’m sure you know what a scavenger hunt is, but to refresh your memory, it’s simply a challenge to find specific items within a specific set of limits. A list of items is given to each team and they must find the items and return them by a specific deadline. The team that returns with the most items found from their list in the designated time is the winner. Scavenger hunts can be done individually with one winner or, for team building purposes, can be done in teams. They are a fun way to get your teammates to work together.
Do the scavenger hunt in the office or outside the office to build the team
You can make the hunt business related by selecting items that relate to your business or market or you can make it more fun and select random items that will be harder to find. If you have time to do the scavenger hunt outside of the office, it can be even more fun and challenging.
To do an office scavenger hunt, spend a day (possibly the weekend before the event) and hide certain items (or find existing items) throughout the office building. Be sure to put them all on a list. You can make it more challenging by adding very specific items to the list, like a clip that has a red cord attached to it. If you have a tub of paper clips that people go to when they need more, place the paper clip tied with string at the bottom of the tub, so it won’t be easily noticed when looking in the bin. If there are plants in your office, you can place small objects such as small glass beads or perhaps a pin in the ground at the base of the plant. Be sure to be specific in the list of what you are looking for. If you want them to find the glass bead that is in the dirt, write “a clear glass bead covered in dirt.” This will cause them to search for a specific item.
Team Building Scavenger Hunt Guidelines
Before you begin your scavenger hunt, be sure to set some general guidelines. Make sure they know what the limits are to look at. Make sure they understand that the idea is to work as a team to collect the items on your list. You can add additional rules and requirements to force groups to work together as a team, i.e. everyone must stay together, etc.
Choosing equipment for the treasure hunt
As you begin your scavenger hunt, you may want to assign people to teams that they will work with. This gives you the opportunity to break up office clicks that may be in place or bring together certain people who need to become a more cohesive team. You can also choose to put participants who are already close on opposite teams so they can get to know the other people who work in your office but don’t communicate with them often. Your teams should be chosen based on your goals for the treasure hunt.
Each team will have to decide their strategies and how they will work together to complete the treasure hunt. Regardless of their strategy, they will have to work together to come up with a plan and execute the task.
Choose prizes for your Team Building Scavenger Hunt
You can decide to tell the participants what the prize will be or, to make it more intriguing, not tell them at all. Just tell them that they will really like whatever prize the winning team receives. The mystery will probably make them work harder to win.
The prize for the treasure hunt should be carefully thought out. You have to make sure that it is something that the majority of the staff in the office want. It’s virtually impossible to please everyone with the prize, but you can definitely find something that most will enjoy. It can be a pizza party that the administration staff throws for them. If possible, paid time off is always a great reward. You could offer the winning team a half day off with pay. If time off isn’t feasible due to workload or other reasons, consider other options, such as a signed certificate of completion. This must be signed by high-level people in the company, not just by their immediate supervisors. This will have more meaning if senior management staff have a part in recognizing it. A large reward for all participants may also be in order. You shouldn’t tell the teams that everyone will be rewarded before the scavenger hunt is over. This will work as a work against you because it will demotivate them. If they know that everyone will be rewarded, they will probably not put so much effort into the task.
treasure hunt report
Without any additional input, the activity itself will bring the team together in a fun way that will carry over to your work. But you may also want the teams to report on some of the behaviors that take place during the scavenger hunt. While the scavenger hunt is underway, watch how the employees relate to one another. You will definitely be able to see the leadership possibilities in certain employees. You will also see which employees follow instructions best. Many strengths and weaknesses are likely to be revealed, and management staff can make full use of the information gained from this exercise. Some strategies and behaviors will be more successful than others.
To highlight these points, you may want to have a basic team debrief right after the scavenger hunt is over. Ask participants to discuss some of the following questions:
- What happened?
- What was the results? Why?
- What was successful? What could have been done better?
- What individual strengths were discovered? What skills and strengths were not fully utilized?
- How could you compensate or overcome any weaknesses?
- What could have been done differently?
- What did you learn from others on the team?
- How can what you learned from each other be useful in the workplace?
Benefits of a Scavenger Hunt for Team Building
Holding a scavenger hunt in the office is a great idea. Not only will it be a fun break from day-to-day responsibilities, but it will give you an opportunity to practice teamwork. There are benefits for the participants as well as for the management staff. Administrative staff will be able to observe and recognize traits in their employees that they might not have noticed without the treasure hunt. Homework is office-friendly and fun for everyone involved.
Need some ideas?
You can get ideas for specific scavenger hunts at CreativeScavengerHunts.com