Do you want your staff to bond? Work better as a team? Try locking them in a room where they have to solve clues in order to escape. No, this is not a joke. These types of team building activities have been growing in popularity, so much so that participants actually pay to get locked up.
After the staff at Cleveland State University Campus Recreation Services participated in the room escape program, Escape in 60, in downtown Cleveland, they decided it would be the perfect activity for student training and team building at the rec center. “The original idea came as a risk management activity. We thought this would be a fun way to tackle risk management training,” said Michelle Rieger, the assistant director for aquatics and fitness.
Then in January, when the university hosted the 29th NIRSA Region III Student Lead On conference, the department decided to recreate a room escape program for participants. “We took our massage room, because that is the only one we can make completely dark, and re-created a small rec center,” explained Rieger. “We had some free weights, yoga mats, a blow up swimming pool, etc. Participants had one flashlight and had to work together to get a bag of flashlights unlocked so everyone could have them. Then there are clues spread throughout the room that they need to solve in order to break out.”
The event, titled Viking Escape, was focused on leadership. All of the clues revolved around nine steps for successful leadership. “As a leadership exercise the learning outcomes were critical thinking, decision making, problem solving, team work and time management,” added Rieger.
They originally planned to run the Viking Escape twice, but due to popular demand added a third round. According to Rieger, the event was a huge success. While not every team escaped within the 30-minute time limit, it sparked impactful conversations.
“The discussions the groups had afterward were pretty incredible,” she said. “We went over what each team learned, how they worked together as a team, how they could have focused better, and how they could take the skills they learned back to their own rec centers. People were also asking about how they could take the event back to their universities as well.”
When it comes to planning your own room escape program, Rieger suggests taking your time. “Don’t expect to sit down and plan everything in one sitting. Get a good group of people together, plan a few different meetings and iron out all the details. Then do dry runs with your staff beforehand.”
While traditional breakout programs have a wide variety of clues, ranging from physics problems to sports trivia, Rieger also suggests decided on the theme you want, such a leadership or risk management, and planning clues centered on each theme.
