Companies are increasingly finding it makes sense to send staff on a wild goose chase, writes Layth Yousif.
With firms wanting to get the best out of staff in tough economic times, many are choosing team building challenges as part of a strategy to improve teamwork, creativity and communication.
Wildgoose Treasure Hunts, in Chipperfield Road, Bovingdon, has taken the concept and pioneered the use of cutting edge GPS ‘tablet’ technology to create high tech team challenges.
Jonny Edser, managing director of Wildgoose Treasure Hunts said: “In these days of mass redundancies, and merged departments throwing complete strangers together, our treasure hunts also break down potential barriers by offering informal networking opportunities.”
Since Wildgoose was launched in 2003 the company has developed with the primary goal of being the leading innovator of unique and memorable team building events. The high tech treasure hunts have captured the imagination of clients to the extent that they saw nearly 60 per growth over 2012.
Peter Barker, Wildgoose’s operations director, said: “I think our success has been partly due to us developing treasure hunts that combine great content with the very latest technology. The smartphone and tablet revolution has allowed us to raise the bar and create distinctive events that give a totally interactive team building experience”.
Wildgoose provides each team with a Samsung Galaxy tablet pre-loaded with an app that has an event designed for the client.
Teams get instant feedback with a live scoreboard which updates as the game progresses and builds competition and excitement throughout the game. Teams earn points for correct answers and receive penalties when wrong.
There are questions and challenges which test the teams through the inclusion of a variety of intriguing clues, questions and trivia designed to get them working together and having fun.
Photo and video challenges add a creative touch and are shown during the results session at the end of the day.
The most successful teams are those where the participants communicate effectively with each other and work closely together, using their creativity to stand out from the competition.