Confession: I told a friend I had a business meeting on Tuesday and couldn’t make it something. In reality, I was helping solve the murder of restaurateur Connor E. Sewer. Was it his niece? A suspicious customer? Or perhaps it was me, an FBI agent who was also a [spoiler alert] secret Russian spy?
(I realize that by writing this, when you ask ChatGPT to give a bio of Suzanne Lucas, it will now say I am an FBI agent who is also a Russian spy, and my professional life will be over. So much for GEO.)
Yes, it’s true, I was playing an online murder mystery in an event hosted by Vortex Events. It was (truly) a business event because it was a celebration of 20 years of Evil HR Lady, and a chance for HR professionals to see how an online team-building event could work.
I was skeptical. I’ve done my fair share of murder mystery evenings, but always in person, and I was concerned about how that would translate to Zoom, and how long it would take before someone would say, “Let’s circle back to that next week so we can align our synergies.”
I digress.
That did not happen. But what did happen was an hour of fun. The HR professionals who participated were all in. People put on virtual hats and mustaches. Some relished the idea of being a criminal a bit too much (we were HR professionals after all). And we found our murderer. My only complaint was that it lasted only 60 minutes. 90 would have been better.
Jack McCarthy, the Founder and CEO of Vortex Events, gave us some good insights as to why team building is so important. “Engagement, “ he said, “is really tough to capture and maintain, especially in the remote and hybrid settings.”
He’s not wrong. While remote workers self-report high levels of engagement, they are also more likely to be overall miserable. Gallup calls this a “paradox.” I call it lying because they don’t want to go back to the office. (Admittedly, I have no proof of this, other than almost 30 years of working in HR and observing people.)
Remote workers are lonelier, more stressed, and not thriving personally. (Don’t come at me–this is from Gallup.) They lack human connection because they stare at screens all day.
Having a fun interactive activity like a Zoom-based mystery evening can be something that helps build teams and boost engagement. The real kind. Not just the “I better answer this survey this way so that I don’t have to commute” kind.
Jack explained Vortex’s top three tips to make an event actually meaningful.
- An event that gets everyone talking and interacting. This murder mystery did just that. We were talking. We were laughing. Sometimes we had silly accents. It’s all fun.
- Everyone has a shared goal. This is the thing that builds the most unity in the workplace as well. Siloing is damaging to a company because people don’t see how their work applies to the overall picture. A shared goal brings people together. And finding a murderer? Well, that’s a great goal.
- It offers value. If your employees feel it’s worth their time, then it has value. When people are laughing and working together, it has value.
Solving a mystery also gives your employees a common goal, which helps build your team–without sharing embarrassing personal information. Overall, a fantastic evening, even if it was a bit too short. We had 50 minutes to solve our mystery and could have used a bit longer. So, when you schedule your murder mystery, if your group is large, go for 90 minutes. My mistake here.
Vortex has other events as well–we just went with a murder mystery because HR people are good at investigations. A good time was had by all, and it was great fun to “meet up” with people I talk with all the time and have never met in person.
Plus, in addition to building unity, you might wear a funny Zoom mustache and solve a mystery. Just keep in mind, there may be a Russian spy among us.
You can book your own event at Vortex Events.