10 Frequently Unasked Questions about Trivia Team Building

When it comes to trivia team building, people typically have the same questions: “how does this work?” “What kind of trivia?” “Is this like a game show?” “Do people play individually or in teams?”

You get the idea.

Having produced so many of these events, however, I’ve found that people still have plenty of questions leading right up to- and during- the event, even when they think they have everything pretty well down pat. As such, below is a list of the 10 most frequently UNASKED questions about how you can use trivia as a team building exercise:

1) Do we need to break teams down in advance? – This is entirely up to you, although I usually advise doing so for the sake of time; if you have a large group and are trying to break them down evenly, or even drawing names from a hat, this will gobble up a lot of trivia playing time.

2) Can the event organizer play? – Only if he/she wasn’t directly involved in creating trivia question content- that wouldn’t be very fair now, would it?

3) People are having a lot of fun- can we go longer than planned? – Yes of course! However, be mindful that even the most energetic group will eventually suffer from “trivia fatigue”

4) We want to combine two teams into one – is that okay? – Sure- long as the teams are still evenly balanced per your original specifications (old/new employees, junior/senior staff etc.) and the new team isn’t way bigger than the others, so as to keep things as fair as possible

5) Can team members call others who are still at the office for answers? – No! That would be cheating, and cheating’s not allowed.

6) At what point in the event can the boss say a few words to the group? – I usually recommend either at the very beginning of the event when everyone first arrives, or at the start of the last round, when he/she will have everybody’s attention.

7) We decided that we don’t actually want to do that round we planned- what else do you have? – If your quizmaster is worth their salt, than they remembered to bring along several alternate rounds of trivia for just this occasion. Just keep in mind, the questions won’t be customized for your group!

8 ) Can people switch teams mid-game? – This is a tough one. On one hand, we want people to socialize, and get to know as many people as possible; however, switching players mid-game will alter the balance of the teams, and lead to shouts of “no fair!” and the like. I say avoid this if you can- keep the original teams together, to sink or swim.

9) We’ve got latecomers- which team do they go on? – If the teams were broken down in advance, that’s easy (see #1). Otherwise, add the new player to the team with either 1) the fewest people; 2) the lowest score; or 3) the team missing a representative from whichever department, management level or other variable you used to balance teams with.

10) The event’s over- now what? – Assuming you’ve still got the room reserved, now is the perfect time for people to grab another drink and socialize- preferably to gloat in trivia glory, or to give a hard time to the people on the team who beat you. Keep things light and good-natured, and relish in the fun shared experience you all just enjoyed.

What other questions do you have about using live trivia as a corporate team building or employee entertainment event? Please leave your comments below, and I’ll reply as best I can!