The popularity of in-person corporate events has increased; work colleagues who have not seen each other in years get to participate in team-building activities. An office scavenger hunt is a great way to advance your company’s mission and boost your team’s morale. Office scavenger hunts include simple things everyone can do and enjoy around the workplace.
Here are tips on how to plan an office scavenger hunt:
Write Up a List
The hardest part of planning a scavenger hunt is creating a list of activities that all the participants will enjoy. Create a long list so that the participants will have more items to select from to make the activities more fun.
Give the items in the list different point values. Allocate more points to items that need to be done outside the office and fewer points to simpler items.
When creating a list of challenges, choose an average of 20 to 40 items. All teams need to be busy without feeling overwhelmed. Include different difficulty levels (easy, medium, and difficulty) and balance the challenges accordingly.
Creating personal connections with coworkers can be difficult in an office setting. Including customized scavenger hunt missions encourages interactions that inspire even the shyest coworkers to get out of their comfort zone.
Set a Time
The level of difficulty of a scavenger hunt will be dictated by the amount of time you should give the participants to complete it. For an easy scavenger hunt, give participants two hours to complete it. Involve easy tasks and items found within the office. For a more difficult or extended scavenger hunt, choose more complex items that participants can use outside the office.
Scavenger hunts usually take about two to four hours. The amount of time to allocate per task will be determined by the difficulty and theme of your clues. Typically, a scavenger hunt should take at least two hours to be fun and engaging.
It would be wise to test the challenges beforehand. Have a couple of people run through the tasks to get an estimate of how long each will take. This will give you a good idea of the total time of your hunt.
Create a time limit for every task. The team that completes the most tasks successfully once the timer finishes will be the winner.
Consider Location
Location is one of the main factors in planning for scavenger hunts. Have several logistics in mind when creating challenges and clues, such as changes in the weather and time of day.
If you want the scavenger hunt to take place around your office, the participants should not interfere with the day-to-day operations of other parts of the organization. Keep security and safety in mind.
Location is also a factor if you’re planning a virtual scavenger hunt. Challenges should include items and places common to most cities, offices, or houses. The end goal is to make sure that all teams have the same advantage.
To encourage participants to interact and explore beyond the work environment, consider incorporating outdoor locations into your scavenger hunt. Employees will likely enjoy the sense of adventure!
Team Up
Scavenger hunts, especially complicated ones, will often be better if participants are allowed to team up. Split employees into teams if you’re dealing with a large group. The teams need to be large to foster collaboration but also small to encourage communication for everyone to have a role.
Everyone should be able to play an integral part in completing the challenges. Each team should have about three to five people for everyone to have a chance to meet new individuals without feeling lost in a crowd.
Teaming up encourages cooperation and communication, which helps to build team spirit for success. Scavenger hunt activities encourage teams to solve problems by devising strategies to help them complete the challenges. By working together, everyone can think outside the box and use creative approaches to face challenges.
Require Checkpoints
Hunts are usually structured to be more exciting for participants to have a great time. Instead of moving from start to finish, you can include frequent check-ins for each location or task. Incorporating checkpoints can help to keep an eye on teams and solve any problems that arise along the way.
Check-ins also promote competition to keep the event on track. You can tell others when each team successfully conquers a challenge through a text. Consider using an app to collect photos of the completed challenges to push the other teams to finish faster.
Choose the Best App for Your Office Scavenger Hunt
Employees are in great need of social connection as they return to work post-pandemic. Office scavenger hunt app enables participants to answer questions, solve challenges, and take videos and pictures. Prioritize an app that offers privacy for your details to remain confidential. Compare the features of multiple apps to choose one that can meet your needs.
