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Auditor General Karen Hogan’s office managers spent staff time playing online puzzle games as a “team-building activity,” according to The Blacklock Reporter , who said officials confirmed the report.
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by Blacklock Hogan said that Hogan had complained to lawmakers that his office was facing “enormous challenges” due to COVID and budget constraints.
“It was not an office-wide activity,” said Vincent Frigon, spokesperson for Hogan. “It was a team building activity for a team.
Frigon said only 17 of the 567 employees were invited to the Zoom puzzle game, which was played during working hours.
“Escape games are designed for participants to work together to accomplish a mission,” said Frigon. “Their value as a team building tool is well established. They develop and improve teamwork, collaborative problem solving and communication skills.
“A virtual escape room is a web-based experience,” he explained. “Participants join the room through the platform and work together within a set amount of time to gather the information needed to complete specific steps in a set order to leave the room before the time runs out.”
Hogan had said in an Oct.20, 2020 report to Parliament that his office was overloaded with pandemic security measures and a budget of $ 87.6 million. “The pandemic has presented enormous challenges to our operations,” Hogan wrote in a report on the ministry’s results.
“Our staff have been working to reinvent the ‘new normal’ of our audit work, acquiring new tools and exploring new formats for engaging and communicating with staff remotely and developing new ways of supporting learning, ”Hogan wrote. The report does not mention online games, by Blacklock noted.
