It’s been two years since COVID-19 completely changed the way most of us work, socialize, and interact with the world. At Patchwork Adventures, we started working on virtual team building in 2017, but in March 2020, our number of remote clients exploded. Over the past two years, we’ve worked with 850 clients from companies all over the world, expanded to a pool of over a hundred talented actor/facilitators, and learned so much along the way.
These are some of our takeaways for how to thrive in this new work reality:
It’s all about trust.
One of the main arguments against remote work is "how do I make sure my employees are working?" The real question should be, “If you can’t trust someone to work when you’re not meticulously supervising them, why are they working for you at all?”
That’s why giving employees space to connect outside of work is so vital to remote workplaces. As our founder says, “it's all about creating something that feels like a non-work environment, a safe space for people to play and let their guard down.”
Being in that setting together allows people to build deeper relationships that are based on more than just quarterly reports and bottom lines.
When you’re being silly together and working towards a common goal, it allows you to see Bob from accounting as an actual human being instead of just an email signature. (Plus it turns out Bob also does an awesome impression of a T-Rex!)
When we started the company, we knew we were helping corporate teams build psychological trust amongst themselves. Scientifically this is the most important factor in building an effective team. In order to generate new ideas and admit mistakes, team members need to feel safe to take risks around each other.
But what we didn’t realize is how much of the whole event cycle was also about trust:
Clients have to trust that we’re a legit company who has experience creating events and that we know what we’re doing.
Participants have to trust that our team of actor/facilitators will host a great game for them.
Our actors have to trust each other to convey the right puzzles and game information to the participants.
The participants have to trust each other to solve puzzles and clues together.
Having those shared experiences and compassion for each other is key to developing mutual trust. And once that’s established, it’s easy to let go of the micromanaging: happy employees want to support each other; they don’t want to let their team down.
2. Everyone is burned out.
We’ve gone through a global trauma. Everyone’s lives have been impacted, and people are still recovering.
Making space for teams to have fun together and take a break from the work grind is now more important than ever.
The preferences of our clients reflect this: in the beginning of the pandemic, we saw a ton of virtual escape room bookings. Puzzle games can mimic real workplace dynamics and build problem-solving skills in a fun, low-stakes environment. They’re entertaining, and have the added perk of increasing a team’s efficiency and performance.
But over the last six months, our Murder Mystery and Zoom Challenge games have become our most popular events. These games are less about solving puzzles and more about having fun and enjoying theatrical performances together. Yet that in no way makes them less effective as team-building games. Being playful together and boosting employee morale is crucial too, especially in this time when there are so many other external stressors.
3. Creating company culture is a process.
It’s not enough to just book a one-off event and put a checkmark next to your “build culture” to-do item. Culture is embedded in every part of an employee’s time at a company, from beginning to end. Job descriptions, interviews, the onboarding process, social interactions, team workflows, advancement opportunities, etc. etc. etc.: all of these areas reflect a company's values and ethos. At every point, there are opportunities for a company to be intentional about the culture they’re building.
We’ve worked with companies throughout the world, and even before we begin a game with a team, it’s obvious what kind of work environment they’re fostering. We see whether the group has high emotional intelligence, and we can tell whether the people on a team genuinely care about each other. These markers are vital to a team’s success.
happy employees who feel a sense of community are more engaged, more productive, and much less likely to leave a company.
Here at Patchwork, we know we don’t have everything exactly right, but we like to think we’re doing a pretty good job of establishing our own team culture. We onboard through playing games. We pair new facilitators with seasoned ones so that they can learn from each other. Our design team plays games together regularly to generate inspiration for future projects and build community. We have fun job titles like Chief Puzzle Officer and Director of Pandemonium.
It’s also clear that our founder truly cares about her team. She pays her actor/facilitators more than five times the industry standard, and even offers sick pay, which is pretty exceptional in the gig economy. She gives her team enough autonomy to develop their own projects and skill sets, but she offers encouragement and support along the way. (Full disclosure: she's also co-writing this blog post, but I promise, it’s all still true!)
4. Remote/hybrid work is here to stay.
Some have struggled in the new remote work environment, while others have thrived.
But love it or hate it, fully remote and hybrid work is quickly becoming the new normal. Giving employees the option of remote or hybrid (for instance, 3 days in the office and 2 days at home) work is now expected, and top performers are leaving companies that don’t allow for that flexibility. This shift is more than just a convenience for employees: it’s also more inclusive, allowing caretakers and those with chronic illnesses to better integrate work into their lives.
This new reality of remote/hybrid work also brings inherent challenges along with it. It can be more difficult to create solid company norms, especially when it comes to team communication and bonding.
With that in mind, Patchwork has developed several new types of team-building games specifically designed for the hybrid working model. In our Art Heist Street Team game, most of the group meets in person while team members calling in from home act as remote operatives. We’re also developing games for in-office teams that can incorporate remote team members as well.
5. Follow the golden rule.
We strive to treat each one of our clients the way we would want to be treated. That's why we're fully transparent about our pricing. There's no "contact us for a quote" button; all the pricing info is clearly spelled out on our website.
We understand that nailing down participant numbers for your team building event is impossible right now, so we create games that are flexible and can take a group of 5 or a group of 50.
This is also why we make sure we're super easy to work with: send us the date, time, approximate number of players and game type, and we'll take care of the rest. We'll send you an invoice, a game introduction to share, and a zoom link. All you have to do is make sure the participants show up on the zoom call, and we'll make sure they have a great time!
6. Aim for digital first, not adapted.
In addition to designing games, we also play a lot of virtual games (both for fun and for research). The games we gravitate towards the most are specifically designed with the digital medium in mind. Virtual games adapted from IRL games always feel slightly jarring or disjointed, like we’re not getting the full experience. In contrast, the digital-first games tend to flow more smoothly: they feel like they SHOULD be on this medium. For instance, our Escape the Zoom game was created to be played on video chat, and the unique interactions, jokes, and puzzles just wouldn’t work as an IRL activity.
It’s the same thing with your work culture. If you’re expecting to just adapt IRL to virtual, it’s going to be rough and feel like something is missing. But if you design for a digital (or hybrid) environment first, then every interaction, every meeting, every task will already feel like it belongs and makes sense from square one.
7. Check your Zoom norms.
It’s so interesting to see a team come into one of our games with their cameras and their mics off. We get it: maybe your kid has Dora the Explorer turned up at full volume or it looks like a tornado just tore through your kitchen.
Image via https://youtu.be/9GJAiiTTpr4
But bringing your whole, messy self to work has its advantages, too. At this point, nearly all of us can relate to juggling chaos in our house while trying to work, especially if you’re a parent or caretaker. And the benefit of seeing that reflected among your coworkers is clear:
After seeing a coworker’s son do cartwheels behind her in a business meeting, it’s that much easier to build empathy and compassion for your colleagues. While zoom meetings could never fully replace the community feeling of in-person events, they still go a long way, especially if they’re organized with intention.
Whether it’s a one word check-in to kickoff your Monday all-hands meeting, a quick scavenger hunt for items around your home, or using icebreaker questions to help coworkers drop in together, adding small rituals that break down those work walls goes a long way.
No one wants to give a presentation to a bunch of headshots and black screens, and it’s crucial to make the most of the remote connection tools we have at our disposal.
The pandemic has upended so much about our lives, and learning to do well in this new “normal” isn’t easy. So if it still feels too overwhelming, remember to take regular breaks from work mode with your team. Trust us: cracking a murder case or acting like dinosaurs will help you click with your teammates in a way that spreadsheets never could.