My team's visit to a shut-down mall for a work activity was pure chaos

Our department head thought it would be fun to have our monthly meeting at an old, empty mall on the edge of the city. We were supposed to take photos and discuss creativity, but it went sideways fast. The escalators weren't working, so we had to hike up three flights of stairs, and Karen from HR got her heel stuck in a crack. Then, we heard this loud banging noise that turned out to be a loose sign swinging in the wind, but half the team thought it was a security guard. My coworker brought a selfie stick that broke when he tried to take a group shot, and we spent twenty minutes looking for the pieces in the dark food court. Our manager kept saying this was 'thinking outside the box,' but everyone just wanted to go back to the office. We left without any good pictures, and now we have a new rule: no more field trips to spooky places.

3 comments

3 Comments

jamesmason13d agoMost Upvoted

That sounds exactly like one of those team building ideas that looks good on paper but turns into a mess lol. Read a blog post a while back about companies using weird empty spaces for "creative spark" and it almost never works out. The part about the broken selfie stick in the dark food court is just perfect, honestly the most realistic team activity outcome. Totally get why they made a rule against spooky field trips after that.

mason36113d ago

Honestly, I was all for those creative spaces at first. I thought putting teams in weird places would spark new ideas. But after reading about fails like the dark food court thing, it hit me. Like that time my friend's company tried a brainstorming retreat in an empty warehouse. They ended up with more complaints than ideas, just like the selfie stick mess. Now I see why these plans often backfire.

margaret_bennett31d ago

Start by asking what problem you're actually trying to solve. If the team just needs to focus, book a normal meeting room with good coffee and snacks. The weird space becomes a distraction, not a help. I've seen it kill momentum every time.