Blog

Welcome to the 2nd month of the year! The long weeks of January have finally ended and we can start looking forward to the rest of 2020!

Everyone who has worked as part of a team at least once is guaranteed to have heard the title phrase of this article at least once. Where it once induced a sense of unity, it does little more these days than induce groans. But is its endurance not a signifier that its message is richer than it may appear? We certainly think so, and the following breakdown is my take on the meaning behind the cliché.

The countdown to Christmas has begun!

It's that jolly time of year again agents, which means you should be getting your advent calendars ready… Don’t worry if you haven't, Mr Q and the rest of us at clueQuest have got you covered!

The term ‘closure’ is often-used in popular culture - certainly in popular psychology - in reference to a sense of completion. But its meaning and usage seem to have become increasingly less tangible, and its origins vague. What can delving into the main theoretical texts - such as Webster and Kruglanski’s seminal ‘cognitive closure’ papers - tell us about our own behaviours and the effects those can have on our decision making? 

If you’ve been keeping up with our staff interviews, you may know that we’ve been working closely with Lindsey, whose MSc research at The London School of Economics set out to observe the effects of labour division and leadership on group problem solving. As it’s something about which we care so much, it was a no-brainer to bring her on-board and offer up our space and services. But in carrying out her research, it was the effectiveness of escape rooms as a space to capture such data that proved so valuable to her; and thus priceless to us.  

Congratulations dear agent, you are the lucky finder of a wealth of once confidential information. Acoustically engineered kittens; blueprints to nuclear moon missiles; the information could soon be at your very fingertips, courtesy of Vince Houghton and his non-fiction book Nuking the Moon. But that’s not all. clueQuest secrets have since been uncovered too. Follow these simple steps to get the book plus £30 off an escape experience, completely free of charge…

Halloween is here once more! Much to the delight of Professor Blacksheep, who spends every year waiting for it as if it were Christmas. And let’s face it; Mr Q wouldn’t wish for even his worst enemy’s favourite celebrations to be cut short. That’s why you can Trick or Treat at clueQuest right up until Sunday.

The last year has been one of great change for the marketing team at clueQuest. In August last year it gained Keith, who brought with him a wealth of digital experience and an unmatched warmth which has found its way into both the employee culture and even the branding. Shortly after, his team grew and is now a modest trio of in-housers with support from our out-house designers. Keith let us in on his experiences, current projects, and important lessons in the spy agency.

It’s October, and you know what that means! Paint your faces; cut holes in your sheets; get ready for a sugar-rush, Halloween is here! But fear not… Well, no more than you should this time of year. By Mr Q’s orders, our mission this month is to make sure we stay family-friendly.

Alexis’s background in both sales and escape rooms was well established by the time he joined us in 2017. His passion for people is evident to anyone who has booked through him, and he himself attests to the importance of respect and empathy that his role has taught him. We caught up with him to discuss his route into his current role, the misconceptions he’s regularly met with and the positive changes he’s witnessed clueQuest make for companies.

It’s been a week since this year’s CIPD People Management Awards, and as proud supporters of human resource innovation, the clueQuest team was in attendance. Not only were we supporting the nominees in the category we sponsored though, but also one of our very own team members…

Is it by pure coincidence that Alex came to us around Christmas-time? We think not! He’s exactly who we’d been asking for, so staying on the nice list must have paid off. Alex was President of the Adventure Gaming Society at the University of Kent, where he also completed his Mathematics degree before joining us in a front-of-house role. So when the clueQuest Assessment Programme (CAP) required a head for numbers and a heart for adventure, we were lucky enough to need look no further than right under our noses...

In a moment of serendipity, Lindsey first joined us while at LSE studying the use of escape rooms to observe group dynamics, just as we were developing what is now the clueQuest Assessment Programme. In our brief chat she elaborated on her findings which have been instrumental to the programme, as well as her feelings towards the role she has since moved in to at clueQuest.

For better or worse, everyone’s management style is different... Which can make it extremely hard to assess your own. You may find common ground in the styles of your peers or idols, but without set labels, how will you develop a consistency to your methods; an ethos that feels complete? Luckily, the work of social psychologist Kurt Lewin boils it down to just three styles, complete with each one’s observed effects on a team.

A self-confessed perfectionist, Eszter has an eye for detail and a keen interest in people. As a result, her impact on the company in the past 18 months is visible in anything from staff morale to the imminent launch of the clueQuest Assessment Programme (CAP). We caught up with her to discuss her balancing of multiple roles, from our head of HR to the leading force behind CAP, as well as the rewards of laying out our core company values. 

Four months have now passed since the release of Ubisoft Blue Byte’s Beyond Medusa’s Gate, their second virtual reality escape room set in the world of the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Along with its predecessor, Escape the Lost Pyramid, it has been available to play at clueQuest ever since. But is it the way of the future, or simply a gimmick? That’s the very question we’ve been posing ourselves, so without further ado, here’s all you need to know.

With almost a year under her belt, Hannah’s love of stories is what keeps her enamored with Mr Q’s super-secret spy training facility. Being surrounded by fellow actors, comedians and performers is not something she takes for granted. Rather, she considers her colleagues friends for life. Never one to break character, she modestly chalks her newfound adaptability down to Mr Q, but it’s clear that it’s the result of hours of commitment. Our conversation ranged from her initial thoughts upon arrival at clueQuest to her most hilarious customer anecdote. 

Between his everlasting influence on ethics, art, poetry, politics, and pretty much everything in-between, Plato’s name probably comes up in conversation more often than anyone is bothering to keep track of anymore. But if there’s one topic on which I never expected Plato to have weighed in, it’s the advantages of escape rooms from a team-building standpoint. 

For Sahin, working at clueQuest has opened his eyes to a world beyond that of just the company, but of high-octane escape missions across the nation. He’s managed to average more than one mission a month - at clueQuest and elsewhere - since joining us, and the practice is clearly paying off. Not only have his initial nerves completely subsided; he also proudly holds the honour of being this year’s Easter Egg Hunt champion.

It’s been over a month since the LCCI PA club showcase, and as proud members of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, we sent two of clueQuest’s sharpest agents on a mission to inspire fellow business owners and employees to enhance their workforce’s productivity by paying Mr Q a visit, and learning about themselves and their company in the process. Below you can find a selection of photos from the day, as well as a link to the video.