Slack chat murders and office missions: How to play The Traitors at work
Ever dreamed of banishing your boss? We speak to the office who played their own version of The Traitors and can help you set up your own
Discussing the latest episode of The Traitors may be popular water cooler chat, but what about turning things up a notch and playing your own game in the office?
Well, that’s exactly what one London workplace did – complete with Slack shields, productivity-based missions and boardroom roundtables.
Battersea Arts Centre (BAC), the experimenters in question, said the game was a perfect way to boost team morale and get staff back to the office. The game’s elimination of workplace hierarchy (killing your boss or banishing your manager are both on the cards in this game) was a notable bonus for staff.
So, how did they do it and should you set up your own in your workplace?
So, how did they do it?
At BAC, 20 members of staff (around half of employees) participated in the game, which was held over three weeks in the office. The game ran on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, during which there would be a daily mission and a half-an-hour round table held at the end of the work day to banish an employee.
Amy Vaughan, the company’s (fortunately fringed) executive director and stand-in Claudia, told me the game started with an offhand comment at lunch but soon spiralled. “I thought we’d do it in a week, but too many people wanted to play.”
Murders were committed nightly by the Traitors and revealed every morning in the ultimate workplace brutality – removal from a Slack chat.
Missions, which were set to complete over lunchtime, gave players the opportunity to build up the prize pot in the form of a bar tab, sourced from the theatre’s own bar wastage. Challenges ranged from hunting for hidden forks around the office to sourcing the best quote for new seating for the theatre’s commercial team. In this way, Vaughan was able to incorporate double wins for productivity.
“I’m the executive director, so I was super conscious – I didn’t want productivity to drop! People had to work really hard still,” Vaughan said.
How to get HR to let you play
The game was conducted with strict professional boundaries, with all players required to sign codes of conduct to mitigate the risk of any HR issues arising. Agreeing not to disturb their co-workers, to only talk about the game on their own time and to set up any alliances via Whatsapp (rather than overcrowd Slack) were among the stipulations.
Two shields were up for grabs every day, one physical (a custom lanyard hidden around the office) and one digital (found hidden anywhere from staff newsletters to email signatures and Slack pictures).
Staff members who decided not to play could still participate via a ‘Traitors Uncloaked’ Slack channel, where they could discuss which of their colleagues they thought the most treacherous.
To the surprise of nobody who’s watched the show, BAC participants noted game play soon got heated.
I was thwarted when a colleague became convinced that I had murdered them in plain sight at a leaving do
David, Traitor and and head of visitor operations at BAC
“Co-workers turned on co-workers, accusations were thrown around left, right and centre and a number of polite apologies were made face to face once players had the chance to catch up after they left the game,” Faithful and BAC events sales associate Dan told City PM, while Vaughan confirmed that a lot of work besties had to turn on each other over the course of the game.
“We didn’t have anyone who took it personally, but we had people who took it seriously. There were a couple of times when I just had to take someone to one side and say, ‘you need to calm down a little bit’.”
The staff response
A few tears aside, Vaughan said overall the exercise was a huge success for team morale, forcing people to mix with other teams and fostering connections, with Traitors intentionally chosen from across departments. Since staging the game last year, Vaughan says it has often been cited in exit interviews as a staff highlight.
David, Traitor and head of visitor operations, said the game fostered constant permanent suspicion (“I was thwarted when a colleague became convinced that I had murdered them in plain sight at a leaving do in the pub”), but was easily the most fun he’d ever had at work. “I have never seen a work team become so close (and unbelievably uninhibited) so quickly.”
David was banished at round table eight of nine after an emotional confrontation from Faithful and head of finance Rozzy, who, despite being double-crossed by her close colleague, agreed it was “the ultimate team-building game”.
“What started off as a piece of fun had every department talking, plotting and doing hardcore investigative journalism. Every person who played ended up with a story line that they carry to this day – true legacy,” the finance chief told City PM.
Office attendance was also boosted by the game, with even non-playing staff members coming in to watch the round tables. But the game’s crowning glory? A high production finale set in the theatre’s grand main hall complete with music and stage lighting. “It was absolutely ridiculous. Everybody came and we bought Prosecco for everyone. It was unbelievably intense.”
Want to set up your own office Traitors?
It may just sound like a lot of fun, but Vaughan tells me these kinds of activities are more important than they may first appear, especially for industries like the arts where bonuses and pay rises are not as readily available to motivate staff. “You’ve got to find ways to make these really brilliant places to work at because you don’t have any financial incentives at all at your disposal. So you have to work really hard making this a place where people can feel really happy and be hugely productive, but also really playful.”
In the mood to mess with your boss in the name of team spirit? BAC may even be able to help you set up your own office Traitors.
After the success of their own game, the centre said they’re now looking at ways to offer this as a team-building service, where they could set up the game in companies’ own offices and host the finale for them with all the bells and whistles at BAC.
One piece of advice if you’re planning on going for it yourself? Perhaps make sure you know how to spell your colleagues’ names.