When you are planning a scavenger hunt for a corporate group, there are a number of steps that you should take to make everything run smoothly. Follow these tips to ensure your corporate scavenger hunt is a success.
1. Understand Your Objectives
The first step when it comes to arranging a scavenger hunt is to identify the objectives for the team building activity. Many groups skip this important first step, however by not identifying objectives at the outset, you will cost yourself more time and effort down the road and you may even find that you get your group involved with an activity that is not particularly engaging for them. Wouldn’t you rather find the perfect activity for your group? Click to learn more about team building objectives.
2. Determine Your Group Size
How big is your group? For some this will be an easy answer – it will just be the number of people in your department or office. However, in other cases it may be possible to join several smaller groups together to make one larger group.
There are several advantages to having a larger group size for an activity like a scavenger hunt. First, it can increase the level of engagement for the participants. With more participants and more teams there will be more excitement and more competition which may motivate the participants to strive to be one of the most successful teams.
A second advantage to a larger group size applies if you are using a professional team building provider like Scavenger Hunt Anywhere. In most cases, a larger group size means a lower cost per person.
Think about whether your group may be able to combine with another group from your company in order to increase the level of excitement or even just to save money.
3. Choose the Type of Scavenger Hunt
Did you know there are different types of scavenger hunts?
A scavenger hunt is different than a treasure hunt. A scavenger hunt can be set up as a challenge of a team’s business skills whereas the format of a treasure hunt tends to favour people who are more physically fit.
A scavenger hunt can be in a pen-and-paper format, or it can be a smartphone scavenger hunt. Most professionally-run scavenger hunts these days are smartphone hunts, but in some situations a case can be made for a pen and paper hunt.
Walking or driving? The best and safest scavenger hunts are done on foot. Car rallies, while they may seem fun and reminiscent of Cannonball Run, are unsafe and not recommended.
Dive deeper into the different types of scavenger hunts.
4. Consider the Location
You’ll need to consider the location for your scavenger hunt. Downtown areas in major cities tend to work the best, however some suburban areas have a nice walkable historic area that is ideal for a scavenger hunt and less busy than the city.
Consider also the proximity to your office, if that’s where you will be starting from. Does it make sense to spend 45 minutes in traffic to do a 2 hour scavenger hunt? Maybe there is a location that is closer to your office or meeting venue.
If your group will be at a resort, it is possible to have a scavenger hunt there as well and we have done this in quite a few locations.
Learn more about choosing the best scavenger hunt location.
5. Choose the Time of Year
When choosing the best time of year for your corporate scavenger hunt, there are two main considerations:
- The weather. Avoid times of year that are too hot, too cold, too wet or too snowy.
- Employees on vacation. While summertime may be the ideal weather in your location, you may have too many people away on holidays.
More ideas on the best time of year for your scavenger hunt.
6. Think about the Start Location
It is important to give some thought to where the hunt will start. Will it be at your office? If yes, will it be in a boardroom, the office lobby or elsewhere in the building? If you use the main lobby it could be noisy?
What about outside? This is possible but if you are trying to make announcements to more than just a few people, avoid busy street corners and use a park instead.
7. Think about the End Location
Will your end location be the same as the start? Or will you end at a bar or restaurant. When choosing a finish location, think about what happens immediately afterward. Will people need their cars? If yes, then the finish location should be close to the start location.
Smartphone scavenger hunts usually allow for photos to be downloaded. If you’ll be planning a slideshow after the hunt, then make sure you have the right AV setup.
Click for more details about choosing the best start and finish locations for your scavenger hunt.
8. Choose the Prizes
Will your scavenger hunt have prizes? Part of this decision goes all the way back to the objective that you set the beginning of your planning. If you want a more competitive tone for your scavenger hunt then choose great prizes for your participants. We once had a group that gave each member of the winning team an extra day of vacation. You should have seen how hard the teams were working to win that prize!
Also think about how many teams you will have prizes for. If you have a small group it may make sense to just give a prize to the winning team members. If you have a larger group, for example 10 teams, then it may make sense to get prizes for the top three teams.
What are some prize ideas? In our experience the easiest prize to give people is a gift card. It’s easiest for you to carry and it’s easiest for them to carry. However, any appropriate gift will work. We once had a group that finished their scavenger hunt at a large billiards venue and each member of the winning team got a beautiful detachable pool cue in a case with the company logo on it. What a nice touch that was!
If your group has traveled to a meeting and is doing a scavenger hunt then a great prize would be something particular to that region, for example a bottle of local wine or local artisan chocolates or locally roasted coffee.
9.Choose a Provider
A big decision to make for your scavenger hunt is whether you will run it yourself or use a professional team building provider. There are pros and cons to both and you need to decide what is most appropriate for your organization.
The obvious pro of building and running your own scavenger hunt is that it won’t cost you money out of pocket. However, please consider that participants in a corporate activity expect a certain level of professionalism. Do you have a lot of experience designing scavenger hunts? Do you know what types of challenges will be the most engaging for your group? If you’re not sure about this it probably makes sense to use an external provider.
Also many people who plan their own corporate scavenger hunts are surprised by just how much work it is to build a well designed scavenger hunt. So while you may have saved money you’ve spent a great number of hours on something that may or may not work well for your group.
When it comes to scavenger hunt providers, the general rule is “you get what you pay for”. Ensure that your provider has a strong track record, suitable experience and a high level of professionalism. It’s a fun activity, but it is also important for it to go well. Using a company that specializes in only corporate scavenger hunts, like Scavenger Hunt Anywhere could be your best option. Contact us to get a quote.