City team building: no intervention while a team is moving
Organising a city team building means accepting that the playing field is also a public space: narrow streets, passers-by, mixed traffic, crossroads. For an HR manager, an office manager or an agency, the question is not only "will the teams enjoy themselves?", but "what happens if, at the wrong moment, the game asks them to do something other than look where they are putting their feet?"
That is precisely the starting point of a rule we have built into TeamLab: no control desk intervention is applied while a team is moving. This article explains what that means in practice, how the control desk works and what you need to plan in advance with your organiser.
Why the city changes the rules of the game
A treasure hunt, a trail game or an orienteering race in a room or on a closed estate does not have the same constraints as an urban route. In the city, participants walk in a group, check their phones, chat and look for landmarks. Attention is divided, and that is normal.
A serious game system must therefore start from a simple principle: the game adapts to movement, not the other way round. TeamLab is a single engine that turns a treasure hunt, a trail game or an orienteering race into a managed collective experience. The route itself is designed for each format and together with the client, which makes it possible to take account of the terrain, the group size and your constraints. TeamLab is designed in Marrakech, where it is available today.
The principle: no intervention during a move
From the control desk, the organiser has six possible interventions:
- the reserve stage;
- the timed surprise mission;
- the freeze;
- the slowdown;
- the pause;
- the resume.
These levers are used to rebalance the game, give a team a boost, allow a break or get the group back in sync. But the rule is clear: none of these interventions is applied while a team is moving. A team that is walking is never caught out by a change of instructions, a sudden countdown or an effect that would alter its route along the way.
Interventions announced before they are applied
Another safeguard: before each intervention, the control desk announces its target, its effect and its duration. The organiser therefore knows exactly what they are about to trigger, on which team and for how long. There is no "random" button: every action is clear before it is confirmed.
For your employees, the effect is easy to understand: the game may evolve, but never at the expense of their attention in the street.
What the control desk sees: each team's progress
Managing without seeing would be risky. The real-time control desk gives the organiser a clear view of team progress during the game:
- where each team is in its route;
- how long its position has stayed the same;
- which teams are paused or offline.
This information helps the organiser make well-judged decisions: a team that is not moving may simply be solving a stage, or may have stopped for another reason. It is the organiser who assesses the situation, with the information available.
One position per team, never individual tracking
The position transmitted is that of the team, via its team lead phone. There is no individual tracking of participants. This is a design choice: the organiser needs to know where the teams are, not to monitor people. For an HR department, this matters, because it avoids turning a cohesion activity into a monitoring system.
A human framework: staff roles and management
Technology does not replace organisation on the ground. TeamLab provides for five staff roles, including safety and observer. You can therefore share out responsibilities according to group size and format: one person looks after the group's safety, another observes how things unfold, and the organiser runs the control desk.
The organiser can also run the game themselves, without a technician. This is an advantage for an HR team or an agency that wants to keep control of its event.
On the team side, everything is prepared in advance: creating and composing teams, team names, captain and roles suited to the group size, remote registration, briefing and roadbook. The game is played on mobile, with no paper map, and participants can follow it in French, English, Arabic or Darija. A clear briefing before the start remains the best way to remind everyone of the safety guidelines: walk together, do not cross the road with your eyes on the screen, stop to check your phone.
Validation, log and ceremony: the game stays under control to the very end
Stages are validated automatically by photo, which limits back-and-forth and lets teams move at their own pace. An event log and a timeline keep a record of how the game unfolded: they serve as a basis for the debrief, to go back over what happened with the group.
The finale follows the same logic of control. Trophies, awards, a jury prize and a final ceremony are all planned, but the ceremony takes place in a dedicated venue, never at the finish location of the hunt. The teams arrive and catch their breath, then the group gathers in a suitable setting to celebrate, with no improvisation in the street.
As for privacy, participants register with a first name, without an email address or phone number. There is no individual score, no psychological profile and no ranking of individuals: the game rewards the collective.
What to scope with your organiser
The safety of a city team building is prepared before the day itself. Online scoping lets you ask the right questions: objectives, participants, format, transfers, meals, ceremony, full stay and budget. It leads to a tailored proposal, in the form of a bespoke quote.
If you are an events agency or a DMC, TeamLab fits into your seminars, and your client can be self-sufficient on their quest if access is granted to them. Find the details on the page dedicated to agencies.
A word on locations: TeamLab is available today in Marrakech. Agadir is in preparation. Elsewhere, rollout requires adaptation, a local partner, a reconnaissance visit and validation of the terrain before any launch.
In summary
In the city, the best safety is often the simplest: do not ask participants to react to an instruction while they are walking. With TeamLab, the control desk sees each team's progress, announces every intervention before applying it, and applies none while a team is moving. One position per team, transmitted by its team lead phone, and never any individual tracking.
To build an event that respects these principles, start the online scoping and receive a proposal tailored to your group, or first explore the TeamLab page to see all the features.