Capture learners' attention and help them grow via escape rooms.

Want to change up the learning experience for your employees or client? How about incorporating an escape room into your talent development repertoire? Escape rooms encourage team building, problem solving, and creativity and are a means of experiential learning.

In "Lock In Learning With Escape Rooms," Lisa Haberman walks readers through the steps of designing the experience, beginning with the critical determination of your learning objectives. Do you want to establish a baseline for learner knowledge, set the stage for a training event, or test the stickiness of the learning? Each puzzle or activity participants complete should tie to your learning objectives.

How many participants do you expect to have, and how much time can you allot? Haberman notes that escape rooms work best when you have three to 10 players. If you have more than that, you'll want to break the group up and have multiple rooms. You can facilitate these in person or virtually. The race against the clock is one of the fun elements of an escape room, but you'll need to ensure participants have enough time so they don't get frustrated.

A theme and story are two additional components you'll need to develop. Those two elements increase the entertainment value of the experience and capture learners' interest, drawing them into the activity, which is critical to learning.

These tips were adapted from the December 2020 issue of TD at Work. Learn more at td.org/TDatWork.