Lessons On Team-Work From “Map The City” Challenge

Even in the pre-Covid era, most of us enjoyed watching our favourite travel shows and travel Vlogs as they take one to undiscovered destinations and unbelievably beautiful cities. What’s more is that these shows not only act as a visual delight but also talk about the origin of the place, the local delicacies and the lesser known places to visit!

Map the City is a virtual team activity which gets you most of the above experiences and the best part is you can do it with your team from wherever you are situated (geographically, of course). Its a challenge in which respective teams compete against each other while they learn about the different flavours of a new city. The journey starts with mind-blowing puzzles and the participants are required to answer city-specific questions, even as the crescendo builds up with each passing minute!

With the right does of drama, dance, and a lot of engagement, Map the city offers everything that one could ask for in a virtual vacation. Furthermore, the meaningful insights shared along with some effective debrief points at the end of the activity act like icing on the cake!

However, what makes Map the city truly stand out is the fact that along with team engagement, it allows for a host of meaningful insights about the importance of team work –

The very essence of thIs activity is to boost your team spirit! It becomes very important to push your team for various obstacles placed during the course of the challenge. And, often, the ability to push your teammates towards success comes down to the culture you create, which leads us to the second lesson –

In the spirit of competition, tension often proves as a driving force. However, it’s only when the overall goal is clear that teams can use this force effectively to achieve success. It’s when everyone is working towards the same goal that individual efforts can lead to cumulative success. Map the city comes along with number of challenges, and as a team, it is possible to overcome each hurdle, in time.

It’s a high-pace activity involving cryptic clues and challenges at every step! Making sure that every member has one designated goal throughout the activity allows fo r the collective success of the team!

Individual accountability is the belief that everyone will be accountable for their performance and the consequential learning. Individual accountability occurs when the performance of each individual is assessed and the results are given back freely. From the start of the activity, every individual is accountable for the actions regarding the success of the activity, and results from each round are made ‘Live’  for reference. This works to inspire teams to buckle up and perform better!

Decision making is a soft-skill. However, when you are in the middle of high pace activities and expected to do the challenges and solve questions within a limited time-frame, this skill is put to the ultimate test!

Communication, in particular, is important to master for a team to function effectively. For a team to succeed, there needs to exist an open channel of communication. While the team focuses on the various tasks during the activity, its equally important to build clear communication and maintain coordination.

Trust is the foundation of teamwork. In his book, 5 Dysfunctions of a Team , Patrick Lencioni, emphasises on trust as the foundation for teamwork. That being said, Map the city, as an activity helps you generate trust and develop a sense of belonging with the team as you explore a new city and discover unheard stories and visit exotic locations!

Elements like the use of search engines and various aspects of online maps present within the activity help in fostering the cohesion between teams, which further allows the establishment of clear goals. Leveraging the team-members strengths’ to create a winning squad is the key to winning this activity, as well as any real-life challenege you might face!