Thanks mainly to the Covid- 19 pandemic, a recent Gallup poll shows that over 50% of all people in the US are now working remotely from home.  And looking to the future, it appears that the situation is unlikely to change anytime soon. That's probably because another survey by Buffer showed that of the 3,500 sampled remote workers, around 98% of them said that they were happy to continue to work remotely for the rest of their careers. As anyone who makes the dreary morning commute will already know, this result should be a surprise to no one.

Now that we've been living under Covid for more than a year, many businesses are at last beginning to recognize that working remotely, and being away from everybody, can cause low morale. Another Gallup poll points out that “a strong company culture gives a competitive advantage.” On another level we think it's important that employers understand the warning signs of low team morale. It’s better to produce a strategy that can re-engage their teams and also keep employees both fulfilled and happy. Obviously, it's a no-brainer that you want your employees to be as happy and healthy as possible.

The Danger Of Low Team Morale

In many cases, physical distance can cause team members to disengage. And this can lead to an unhealthy mental environment for workers. It goes without saying that when an employee mentally checks-out, then the level of their work excellence is going to drop. It's the same when there's a lack of communication between team members. If we step back, we can see that there are actually many reasons why a work team's morale may drop. These can include such things as lack of cohesion, conflicts in the workplace and an inadequate understanding of the company's aims and values, and can even include such things as changing personal circumstances.

In spite of this, if a business is able to produce an engagement strategy, it can help many of these problems, and even fix some of them before morale goes south. One of the best strategies is going to be team building. And although the definition of what this is may vary slightly from company to company, one factor is a given. And that's that team building will help its participants feel more positively about their own team. On the whole, a good team building activity is going to improve communication and reduce the need for conflict management. 

Benefits Of Virtual Escape Rooms

Of course, here at ExitTheRoom we’re very happy if businesses choose escape rooms, and in particular virtual escape rooms (thanks to social distancing) in order to boost team morale.  Having said that, it's important to bear in mind that not all team building experiences are going to be the same. We can imagine most employees have taken part in some sort of team building exercise in the past. An example of a different type of team building would be ice breaker questions. This is a different scenario than racing around a room looking for hidden clues and trying to solve puzzles before a clock ticks down your expired time. If there's one thing escape room games can contribute to team building, it's an element of fun.  Unfortunately, with many team building activities, fun seems to be put on the back burner. With that in mind let's see what positive factors escape room games can bring to the table when it comes to boosting company morale.

Creating Bonds

Working together as a team to achieve a goal should be an excellent source of satisfaction.  So when everybody is playing in a virtual escape room they will be creating bonds that will hopefully translate over to evolve a healthy and enjoyable culture in the workplace. It's great to watch a team finishing within the time limit and seeing all the virtual high fives, as well as a scheduled happy hour to celebrate. Nevertheless, it's still a similar feeling when the game is lost. In some ways, this is more similar to a typical workplace situation, as not all projects are successful. In these situations, while the results are less than perfect, it's important that the bonds between team members remain strong enough that they can pick themselves up and carry on, without assigning blame or finger pointing.

To that end, it really isn't so important that the teams finish the game within 60 minutes. Though on the face of it, the game is just a fun activity, it's purpose goes much deeper. It's to help all players form relationships with each other that will help them work together in the future. That's why, whether the teams win or lose is almost beside the point. We'd like to look upon every completion of the game as a win for every team that takes part.

Fostering Creativity

A simple Google Search of “creativity in business” will bring up around 433,000,000 results. In some ways the sheer number of results show the importance of creativity in business. According to a recent Gallup survey, only 29% of workers agreed that they were expected to think of new ways of doing things or to be creative during their work time. In some ways this is a rather sad result as creativity is certainly one of the major factors in making any occupation both enjoyable and satisfying.

It's often the case that teams struggle to get things done or to find a good attitude because they simply don't have either the time or the space to be creative. And yet it's creativity that makes the job so much more exciting. Even Psychology Today states, “creativity is the thinking that fuels innovation.” The magazine goes on to say that, “creativity is related to 9 of the top 10 skills that global executives say is essential for 2020 and beyond.”

With so many employees working from the home office, there's no better time than to encourage everyone to start thinking out of the box. And with so many people wanting to continue working from home, now is the time for both employees and employers to be open to new ways of doing business. More than any other skill, creative thinking is one of the major factors in bringing benefits to a company and its employees.

One of the reasons why so many people are enamoured with escape room games, even virtual ones, is that they require a creative approach to understand the gameplay. To that end, if you can’t think outside of the box, then you will never escape. These escape room games offer logical puzzles and new ways of seeing things that will keep you guessing. If you're playing with a team, and you can all think creatively and quickly, then the game is your oyster.

Encouraging Collaboration

It's often the mark  of a bad manager that they are unable to encourage the teams to collaborate well. But the truth of the matter is that, as with all things in life, everything's better when we all work together. Each individual member of a team can bring something different to the table, be they strengths or different skills. And in so doing, the team is able to provide the best services or best products. Without collaboration and the communication that allows it, then it's impossible for a business to reach its full potential. In many escape room games there are team efforts. And though each person is vital to the mission, they will either win or lose the game as a team. Of course, delegation is going to be important as the game is being played. After all, though everybody may be thinking separately, they are all striving towards a single aim. That of escaping the room within the time limit.

Increasing Communication

Whether you're playing in a virtual escape room or working in an office, everything comes down to communication. In fact, we would suggest that there's no possibility of any sort of success, whether in the escape room game or in the work situation, if your team is not communicating clearly and ineffectively. It's quite common that a lack of communication will hold up progress, which can be extremely frustrating. In the same way, when each team player steps through the virtual door of the escape room, it's essential that everyone is open to giving and receiving clear communications. 

What's interesting to see is how, as the clock ticks down towards the end of the game, then all teams suddenly start communicating incredibly clearly, quickly and succinctly. The fact that they're playing a game, and yet still feel the pressure of gameplay, elevates the need of clear communication. This can be later reflected in the workplace.

Building Trust

In our personal relationships everybody understands the importance of trust. Yet many people fail to recognize that this is equally important in a workplace situation. It doesn't matter if it's between colleagues or even an employer/employee relationship. Everybody needs to know that someone has their back, so to speak. That they can step out and take risks and be certain that their colleagues will support them, and at the same time strive towards a shared result. What's slightly disappointing is that a Gallup survey showed that only 18% of employees strongly agreed that they are able to take risks at work. In many ways this shows a lack of trust. Obviously as a team member, without trust, either from above or from your colleagues, your efforts to achieve better results will quickly be stifled. 

With so many people working remotely, it's even harder to build trust. But by playing a virtual escape room, then you’ll discover that trust is one of the foundational building blocks to achieving the team's eventual escape. The game itself helps promote trust, as in some ways, you may well feel as though you're in a life and death situation. All that stress makes you more dependent on others around you. 

Having Fun!

Here at ExitTheRoom, though we believe escape room games are a brilliant way of team building, we are also concerned that everybody who plays enjoys themselves. That's because the power of fun is an important element in being able to boost team morale. In many ways, it can help create a company culture based around enjoyment of activities and work. Whether you're playing an escape room game to get a new team comfortable with each other, or because you're celebrating having scored a new big client, the game is the perfect opportunity to have a fun time.  

In fact, we would go so far as to say that in our experience of hosting literally thousands of games, it's clear to see that the game play, the stress and the shared experience, brings all players closer together. We often see teams taking selfies of each other when they make their way back to the reception after the game. This means that they are creating memories. And nothing brings people closer together than the shared memory of having a fun time.