Why Casino Games are Perfect for Team Building
Last year, due to a variety of health and safety concerns, working from home quickly became the new norm. As noted in the latest study spearheaded by Pew Research, over 71% of the US workforce is now working from home.
As early as March 2020, Silicon Valley businesses had shut down their sprawling campuses and asked employees to work from home. They also took various measures to assist remote workers and ensure their safety. Just recently, Google announced their decision to delay reopening its office to September 2021. Facebook, on the other hand, has given employees $2,000 in bonuses to help them set up home offices. Companies like Apple and Amazon have also recognized how the landscape of work post-pandemic will most likely be much more flexible.
While the massive transition to remote working is more than welcome for most companies, it can't be denied that it presents its own set of challenges — especially in the way employers keep employees engaged and connected. Thankfully, there are now a lot of virtual team-building exercises and games that companies can employ. With so many on offer, it is prudent to drill down deeper into the types of games you might want to host for your remote team, and one genre that should prove successful are casino games.
Casino games might not seem the obvious choice for your remote team and there is a bit of setting up involved in hosting some games, but the benefits of these games are clear and evident. As the experience will be designed to ape an actual night out at a brick and mortar casino, you can give the participants some leeway in terms of how they enjoy themselves. If you are hosting such an event, perhaps encourage them to get dressed up for the occasion, introducing a little role-play into the proceedings. By making it interactive and fun, inhibitions may be lowered; some remote team-building events can feel forced and awkward, and breaking down those barriers is key to achieving the right outcome.
Fear not that the events will be held online either; these days online experiences are often designed to reflect a physical experience as closely as possible. The casino titles on leading gaming provider Foxy Games shows how online platforms can now accurately replicate the physical experience of gaming. These titles not only recreate the gameplay but also the atmosphere through a fully live studio to interact with. Your event will look to emulate aspects of this experience, certainly with the live studio interaction, with the subtle difference being the fact everyone involved will know each other. You may also be taking the actual gaming away from the system and emulating it yourself.
You may want to find an online platform to host a poker game, for example. It is impossible for you to deal cards to people over Zoom or Skype, but by using third-party software you should be able to host a successful hand or two, but do remember it is a complex game and therefore your staff may be at different skill levels. If that is the case, you must make some provision for the lesser skilled players among your group.
You may choose to host something that you can make a little more bespoke, such as bingo. It can be found in major casinos and is something you would not necessarily need third-party software for. Each participant could design their own card, and you draw the numbers yourself on screen. This might be a more ad-hoc experience, but it could also lead to more interaction, and it suits all skill levels.
If you really want to push the boundaries, you might invite all staff to one online casino provider and give them a small budget to play slots or table games, but do so with a video call active to discuss their experience.
Whatever you choose to do, the end goal is the same. If your employees have fun with each other, enjoy a laugh and a joke, and get to relax when the world outside is troubling, then you have achieved your goal. For more tips on business growth and remote leadership, make sure to explore our site here on TK Business Magazine.
