The Digital & IT team within Education & Skills recently embarked on a team building exercise at Escape Room Trafford Centre - Adrenaline Escape. The team members all work remotely, and for some, this was the first occasion of meeting each other in person.
They split into two groups, one group in the Devil's Gate room, and the other in Lab 3436. It was a friendly competition, and the team really enjoyed it – but non made it out of the escape room!
Team members shared how they found the team building experience:
"We found out that we all have legs, that we'd never seen on Teams meetings! Although the group in Lab 3436 thought they had beat the group in Devil's Gate, they didn't. Guess which one I was in! After the escape room we all gathered for lunch in the Trafford Centre and had a really nice time socialising together. A great moral boost to start off 2025."
– Wendy Bent, Team Leader/Lead IQA Digital & IT
"It was really good, I enjoy doing an activity and the escape room was great. I would have like to have done the other one too! It was nice to see people in person – and I would like to do one when the weather is better in the summer!"
– Leon Cooper, Skills Development Tutor
"It was good to meet up and be in a more informal setting. The escape room was interesting and I enjoyed doing it, even if it was a little obscure in places! It's always good to be able to talk informally and not feel like you're chatting at work, when should be getting on with something else. We should do the crystal maze next..."
– Leon Smith, Skills Development Tutor – IT & Digital
"It was a great chance to meet people I work with in a more informal setting to chat and share a bit of info – to find out more about each other. It was a fun activity, OK we didn't succeed, and sure, I'm a poor loser. But it was a lot of fun working together to solve problems, and I think we worked well as a team. Even if I may have been a bit bossy."
– Paul Mather, Skills Development Tutor
"It was thoroughly enjoyable and it promoted team work and cohesion."
– Gavin Fletcher, Skills Development Tutor
Image - from left to right: Sarah Oliver, Gavin Fletcher, Leon Smith, Wendy Bent, Annie Ashton, Leon Cooper, Paul Mather and Azar Norman.