3 Fun Ways to Build Trust Among Coworkers

One of the biggest obstacles to the success of a business is the inability of coworkers to get along as a cohesive team. While encouraging a spirit of competition so that each member works towards excellence in their field, it is also important to impress upon your employees that each is a vital link in a chain that will not hold together unless they forge strong bonds.

They are a team, the most important asset you have, and it is up to you to see to it that they work together as a single unit while also challenging themselves to go above and beyond their current limits. To do this, they need to trust you, and they need to trust each other. Here are three fun ways to build trust among members of your team.

1. Shared Experiences Turned Upside Down

Another cool way to help co-workers forge a bond is a shared experiences exercise. Pair off your team and tell them to share one experience in their life which they found to be negative – something that they vividly recall as a truly regrettable experience. The task is for the other person to find something positive and encouraging to say to their partner. Something which can turn that memory around for them.

Then they switch, and the other person shares a memory, and the same process is followed. You’d be amazed at what it can do for each person when their most negative memories are turned upside down and are now something they can look at as a positive learning experience.

2. Primitive Camping in Pairs

Sometimes it’s just great to get away from the job. Innovative small business owners and entrepreneurs have taken their team camping, but not the kind you would expect. To help your team forge a bond based on trust, take your team primitive (wilderness) camping where there is no wi-fi, no electricity, no toilet facilities, and certainly no electricity they can use to operate gadgets and cooking gear.

Some of your team members may be avid hobbyist hunters and may own a rifle or two they’d like to bring along, but if not, you can always get a good deal on sites like woodburyoutfitters.com. Just make sure to order early enough in advance to meet the waiting requirements so that you have everything ready by the time you leave. You might even enjoy a bit of hunting together in the group.

3. Survivor Challenge

Who hasn’t seen the reality show, Survivor? In this ‘game,’ you will lay out a plane crash scenario for your team. The plane lands on water, but there is no way to get help because the radio equipment was damaged in the crash. There are flotation devices, and there is an island within a short distance, but the plane is rapidly sinking. They have only a few moments to choose one item each they can bring along with them. Provide at least ten items more than the number of people who will be allowed to carry one item only. They need to think about the safety and well-being of the entire group, and the group must agree with the choice each makes. Since they must do so quickly because the plane is sinking, they need to be convincing if anyone challenges their choice. This is one of the best ways to build trust because it is obvious when someone in an emergency situation has your welfare at heart.

One of the main detriments to a cohesive team spirit is a lack of trust. If you can build trust among coworkers, you will see immediate changes in how efficiently everyone begins to work together as a whole. Trust-building exercises are not only effective, but they are fun as well. Try it sometime and see for yourself. You’ll have just as much fun as they will, and everyone will be better for the time well-spent together forging those bonds.