Should I Host a Scavenger Hunt?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Hosting a scavenger hunt can be a great idea if you’re in charge of team-building exercises in your company. These games are exciting and can be effective for revitalizing teamwork among employees. They can help to foster employee relationships improving the company’s overall productivity and performance. Here are some reasons why you should host a scavenger hunt: 

Builds Relationships 

Scavenger hunts can be suitable for building and strengthening relationships for cross-functional departments and within departments. They foster trust across different departments promoting cohesion within the company. This can save a lot of time if your company deals with task replication resulting from miscommunication among departments. 

To achieve this, create teams comprising representatives from each department. Each team can include at least one manager and representatives from the marketing, accounting, human resource, and quality assessment departments. Having at least one person from every department promotes communication and interactions across the departments. You can create same-department teams if you want to improve individual departments’ performances.

The games allow employees to relate outside the workplace, which can be ideal for introducing new hires to existing employees. Relating with people outside the office can help new employees adjust to your company faster. 

Creates a Teamwork Culture 

Scavenger hunts can help employees naturally appreciate each others’ strengths beyond the workplace. This allows them to see their colleagues as more than just workmates. They see each other as true teammates. They combine their strengths to achieve a common goal: completing the game. 

Achieving a common goal creates a sense of belonging even after the team-building activity ends. Employees may stop seeing themselves as individuals and instead view themselves as part of one big team. This can boost employee cooperation, enhancing your company’s performance and growth. 

Boosts Employee Retention 

Hosting fun team-building events can encourage employees to stay with your company. Employees feel more valued when companies take the time to plan exciting tasks for them. It shows them they’re an integral part of the company and that their happiness matters. 

Employees today appreciate inclusive and fun work environments. Providing this through scavenger hunts promotes employee satisfaction reducing turnover. You’re likely to spend less hosting these games than replacing high-value employees. Invest in activities that improve their opinion of your company. 

Improves Communication 

Proper communication is key to completing the scavenger game. Players must brainstorm strategies and discuss them to determine their efficiency. The games are timed, so players must update each other to avoid repeating already completed tasks. They’re a great way to gain valuable communication skills. 

Employees can apply their new skills at the workplace and improve cooperation. You may notice increased collaboration among employees and faster task completion. Improved communication can reduce workplace errors since employees won’t be afraid to ask for help. 

Encourages Creativity 

Scavenger hunts are challenging since players must be innovative to complete tasks quickly or within the allocated times. Teams that think outside the box are often the quickest to complete tasks. This makes these games a great way to foster creativity and innovation. The games showcase the benefits of creativity and instill confidence in employees. They may be more willing to voice ideas that could boost productivity in the workplace. 

Helps Teams Learn More About Their Teammates 

Scavenger hunts allow players to know each other beyond the surface. Team members see how their teammates solve problems, develop ideas, deal with pressure, and express their opinions. This can be more than they learn from each other on a typical working day. 

The games allow employees to see each other beyond their roles. You can customize your games to achieve this by designing activities that give players points for sharing information about themselves. The more employees know about each other, the more they trust each other. Increased trust translates to increased collaboration, which may improve your company’s bottom line. 

Plan a Team Building Scavenger Hunt 

Employees achieve more when they work together, which makes team-building activities beneficial. Hosting a scavenger hunt is one of the best ways to foster team spirit in your organization. These games allow employees to build relationships, improve communication skills and encourage creativity. Break employees’ monotony of the workplace by hosting scavenger hunts. Find creative ways to incorporate team-building activities in your workplace today.

 

Dr. David K Simson
The author, Dr. David K Simson is a trained radiation oncologist specializing in advanced radiation techniques such as intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT), volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) / Rapid Arc, stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT), stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). He is also experienced in interstitial, intracavitary, and intraluminal brachytherapy.