Team building during pandemic

Team building during pandemic

Team building during corona does not leave many options. Activities can be organized online or outdoors.

As there is already too much of everything online, a great way to have fun and get closer is to take your team outside. The fact is that gatherings in small groups and outdoors are not that risky.

The pandemic has changed the way people work, their relationship and communication with colleagues. There are no more small rituals at work, such as a joint lunch. Whether the corona virus has interrupted the usual way of working or your colleagues are used to sometimes working from home, it is important that you continue to cultivate a sense of community.

Surely you had the opportunity to participate in online team building activities in the past year. Maybe now is the time to get your colleagues off the screen. We can customize our “Belgrade team bonding quest” to your requirements and protection measures. The number of people who would participate in one team can be reduced, as well as the number of teams per term. During almost the entire quest, the participants are in their smaller teams, walking through the center of Belgrade and solving puzzles, riddles and fulfilling challenges. This activity can be organized according to the weather forecast and you can schedule your quest two or three days in advance.

There is nothing that can replace seeing colleagues live and creating new memories outside the virtual world.

Support small and local businesses

This is a difficult time for small businesses around the world, especially for those involved in event industry. If we collaborate, we can get over it with a little fun and new memories.

How well do we know Belgrade?

How well do we know Belgrade?

How many times have you walked from one place to another without even realizing how you got there? We walk staring at our phones completely unaware of the things or people we pass. Usually concentrating on the traffic jam, we go the same way to college or work every day. And then it happens that we notice a building only when it has been built. We’re all eager for some exciting travel adventures, exploring new destinations, but why not start from the city we live in?

So we wonder how much do we really know Belgrade?

At the end of our quests, participants almost always tell us that they have never noticed a memorial plaque before or that they didn’t know the story behind some monument.

Here is one test for you; do you know where we took any of these three photos?

Follow our Facebook page and join our action [Gde je ovo?]. Every week we upload a new picture, test your knowledge of the city.

Quarantine game night

Quarantine game night

What is the easiest way to organize game night during quarantine?

We write about some games that don’t require equipment at all and you can join from laptop.

 

Over the past few weeks, our social lives have disappeared and as we wait for freedom to go back outside, we still need to socialize.  If you want to organize game night in quarantine the first step is invitation. When inviting your friends to online game night, treat the invitation like you would for a standard game night. Give people a specific time and day to attend, but don’t forget to leave some time for everyone to connect at the beginning of the call. Also let everyone know which platform you will be using for game night.

  1. Online trivia quiz

This is perfect option for people that are fans of the Pub quiz nights.  If you are lucky you might be able to find a quiz that you can buy, but you have the time why not to try to create one? Our advice is to always have in mind that the best questions are the ones where participants can’t google the solution that easily.

  1. Get to know each other

Any kind of pen and paper game can be played even online; classical games such as “Never have I ever” or “Three truths and one lie”. You’ll be surprised how many facts about your friends you don’t know. Everyone can write facts/answers on the piece of the paper. Host can count one, two, three and participants will show the paper to the camera. It’s quite easy and you can learn something new about your friends.

  1. Scattergories

As kids growing up in Serbia we would play this kind of games. The most popular was the one with Geography as main topic and categories would be: country, city, river, mountain…  Somebody would take a pen and stuck it in the book; the pen would show the letter and all the players would start filling out the categories. This game can be easily played in quarantine and you can be creative with the categories.

Bonus – Belgrade monopoly

If you are like us and you miss exploring Belgrade, you can try to conquer it in the monopoly. Monopoly it’s classical for a reason. Gather your house mates and explore Belgrade in different way.

We hope these games brighten up your quarantine days and keep you entertained.

Mystery quest

Mystery quest

Do you think team building events are missing little bit of intrigue, role play, clues and accusations? Read about mystery quest, an interactive game that is played in real time, the game where participants are the detectives who are going to solve the murder.

In this blog post we will try to tell you more about mystery quest that we organize.

Before quest begins team will choose key participants to take on the roles of the suspects. Other participants will be in the roles of detectives. If you are the murderer you will not be told. When the time comes to guess who did it – it could easily be you and feel free to point the finger at yourself!

Mystery quest begins when inspector arrives and he declares there has been a murder! He continues to explain all crime details and we discover that the bastard is still in the building… The inspector needs your help to catch the murderer.

Potential suspects range from victim’s wife, bankrupt brother and the family housekeeper… All played by key participants that volunteered before the quest. They will receive the character scripts to portray their role. Everybody must keep their eyes open and listen to conversations as the drama unfolds. Throughout the quest the suspects are called individually to answer questions. But who can you trust? Nothing is quite as it seems – everyone has a motive, but who has an alibi?

After three rounds of game and new clues, more small crimes that occur and all questions answered; suspects will have their concluding statement. After this everybody are invited to guess who the murder is! The game is over when we hear from detective again to find out who the murder is and when we finally hear name of the murder and the words “You are under arrest for the murder”.

Mystery quest is a perfect way to incorporate investigation and to your team building event in the form of a puzzling, fun and interactive murder mystery.

Vladislava Kadija, E-front kickoff

Vladislava Kadija, E-front kickoff

“The BeoQuest team made our teambuilding special, they customized/modified the quest according to the participants’ needs, meeting all our requests and special wishes. The quest was as interesting to those who came to/visited Belgrade for the first time, as it was to those who were born here. We all enjoyed discovering the sights of Belgrade and hidden messages around us. We were discovering Belgrade in a completely different way! By solving tasks, we were able to have a lot of fun, but also to learn things about each other, to realize how different our views on the same things are and to get to know the members of our team throughout the game. Simply put – BeoQuest was a great choice!”

Martin, Sweden

Martin, Sweden

“Belgrade quest is excellent option for travelers who don’t like ordinary tours. With quest you will be challenged to discover fun facts on your own. It is fun and educational activity.”

Hana Ćelap, dr. Zoran Đinđić foundation

Hana Ćelap, dr. Zoran Đinđić foundation

“We chose Beoquest because it seemed (to us) like a creative team building activity. It hit the bull’s eye! Everyone had a great time – from younger and older participants, Belgrade-born people, to those who are just passing through. The tasks were challenging, but solvable – made so that literally everyone on the team wanted and had to get involved in order to reach the goal. We will definitely repeat this experience with a new group. ”

Traditional and modern souvenirs from Belgrade

Traditional and modern souvenirs from Belgrade

Are you visiting the city and want to buy special Belgrade souvenirs? Or are you from Belgrade and want to buy local gift for foreign friend?

If you are looking for the perfect souvenirs from Belgrade, don’t look further, here is our top 10.

Whenever one travels, they want to bring some things that remind them of the places they visited. Memories and experiences are more important than things, so when people travel it can be interesting to shop around and see what the local specialties are. It’s not the object itself that matters, it’s the memory that goes with it.

  1. Tesla cup

Nikola Tesla museum is the most visited museum in Belgrade and you should not miss it. When it comes to the souvenir we absolutely love this Mr. Light cup. For more Tesla souvenirs such as bag, passport cover, card holder or print; check this website.

  1. Niti handmade wool socks or little kilim

For traditional souvenirs in modern design Niti is perfect choice. Timeless pieces that are handmade, also made from Serbian wool, so it is 100% local product.

  1. Print or painting with Belgrade motive

Beograd je slika by Vuk Vučković

aBGD by Duško Papirović

  1. Book from Serbian author

Any book from our literature Nobel Prize winner, Ivo Andrić and we are also recommending Mihajlo Pupin autobiography “From Immigrant to Inventor”. For this book he even got Pulitzer Prize! If you want to dive into Serbian mentality, you should check work of Momo Kapor.

  1. Decko tzar shirt

  1. Ratluk and coffee

Traditional Serbian-Turkish black coffee and sweetmeat that goes with it.

  1. Unique second hand/vintage clothes

From pin-up dresses to eighties shirts, you will find unique clothes and accessorize. Each vintage piece you’ll find in these stores has its own history and getting one as a souvenir is a very creative idea.

  1. Part of Serbian folk costume

Our recommendation goes to leather folk shoes (opanci), embroidered sleeveless vest (jelek) or cap (šajkača).

  1. Cyrillic coaster 

You can get it here.

  1. Something from local supermarket

When traveling, never miss the chance to visit local supermarket. It’s step into local life! For sure you’ll find something you like whether is sweet, savory or alcohol. Another local souvenir from Belgrade could be a newspaper. It is a great way to see which were the headlines during the time you Belgrade and what was going on in the world at that moment.