Challenges and quests on Bright Breaks are one of the most effective ways to boost engagement, build community, and reinforce a culture of well-being in your organization. Whether you’re a Champion or an Advocate, running challenges is a simple but powerful strategy to get your team moving—literally and figuratively.
Proven to Increase Engagement #
Looking for a way to drive participation in wellness breaks? The data is clear:
- Organizations that run at least 4 challenges or quests per year see an average of 224% higher engagement compared to those that run none.
- Running 2 challenges or quests annually results in 138% higher engagement.
- Even just 1 challenge per year leads to a 38% increase in engagement.
📈 The more challenges you run, the more your people participate in breaks—and benefit from them.
What Makes Challenges So Effective? #
- Gamification: Friendly competition encourages repeated participation.
- Community Building: Breaks become something teams do together, not alone.
- Recognition: Participants are motivated by prizes, shoutouts, and leaderboard status.
- Focus on Well-Being: Challenges serve as visible reminders to prioritize daily breaks.
Recommended Frequency #
To maximize results:
- Ideal: Run 4 or more challenges per year
- Strongly Recommended: Run at least 2 per year
Many organizations choose to anchor challenges to key moments in the calendar—like Mental Health Awareness Month, back-to-school season, or the start of a new year—to amplify impact.
Best Practices #
To make the most of your challenge experience, here are some proven tips:
⏱️ Keep It Short and Engaging
- Recommended challenge length: 2 weeks
- Two weeks is long enough for late joiners to catch up, but short enough to maintain excitement and avoid drop-off.
🎁 Offer the Right Incentives
- Prizes boost motivation. Keep them simple and desirable—gift cards are a popular option.
- Want Bright Breaks to handle fulfillment? Request gift card purchase here →
👥 Use Team Challenges Strategically
- Assign Team Captains to rally and motivate their teammates
- Enable “Average Points per Teammate” during setup to make scoring fair for teams of different sizes
🤝 Assign Advocates for Local Impact
- Champions can assign Advocates to specific groups to run challenges and support engagement
- Advocates help share the workload while increasing visibility across departments
Ready to Get Started? #
Creating a challenge or quest only takes a few minutes. Check out our step-by-step guide to setting up your next challenge.
