10 Best Team Building Activities for Building Trust and Unity

Do you want to boost your employees’ work performance? Try team building activities for building trust. Trust is a crucial building block that encourages people to open up and rely on each other which in turn helps the bottom line of the company.

Depending on your company’s goals, there are plenty of ways to help your employees build trust. In this guide, we’ll explore ten effective team building activities for building trust that any team can try. Let’s first understand the role that trust plays in organizations.

1. How Do You Build Trust and Rapport in a Team?

Building trust and rapport in a team is all about communication, reliability, and showing genuine care for each team member. As a company, it is important to ensure that everyone feels seen and heard within the organization. It is only when employees see that they are valued and are engaged that they build trust in the workplace. The second part, which is rapport building, is only possible once people trust each other.

One of the ways to do this is through trust-building activities for teams and cultivating an environment where everyone feels safe to be themselves and confident in each other's abilities. This is what the foundation of building trust and rapport is all about.

2. Top Team Building Activities For Building Trust

2.1. Escape from The Mafia 360

Solving puzzles, brainstorming answers, and then finally coming to the right conclusion is the perfect recipe for building trust. Mafia 360 is a virtual escape room by Hooray Teams, a great virtual teambuilding platform.

Be prepared to be transported to the 1930s and become a secret agent. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, would be to uncover a politician's ties to the elusive “Cosa Nostra”. This is one intellectual ride that will keep you and your team on their toes.

Prep Required: Nothing from your side, everything will be taken care of by Hooray Teams!

2.2. Solve a Murder at the Manor

Solving a murder makes for one of the best trust-building activities for virtual teams. As the team comes together to solve clues they need to be in sync. So, put on your thinking caps and be ready to solve the murder of the enigmatic Lord Aubrey Falconer. Murder at the Manor is an immersive experience that requires you and your team to interrogate the vicar, the cook, the professor, and other characters to crack the mystery.

Murder at the Manor is organized by Hooray Teams, a fun virtual team building platform. It is a hosted activity, so you don’t have to worry about anything at all. Just click on the link and be ready to solve the mystery.

2.3. Participate in a “Pop Culture” Team Trivia

If you are looking for team building activities for the workplace to build trust, trivia is a classic yet understated activity that might fly under the radar. As teams come together to answer questions about the latest and not-so-latest happenings of pop culture, they let their guard down and enjoy themselves with their teammates.

Pop Culture Team Trivia by Hooray Teams, the leading platform for virtual team building activities helps your team communicate and build trust through shared experiences.

Prep Required: If you are looking to customize the trivia game you can reach out to them, but otherwise all you need to do is click on the link and be there.

2.4. Take a Trust Fall

Trust Falls involve teammates catching each other before they hit the ground—quite literally. To conduct a trust fall activity, start by splitting up into groups of 5 or 8. Then, assign one person in each group to wear a blindfold while the rest of their teammates form a circle around them. When everyone is ready, the person wearing the blindfold must fall on their back, and their teammates’ task is to catch them.

Games like Trust Dalls are considered classic team building activities for communication and trust, for a reason. They are some of the best team building activities for building trust since a person has to trust their teammates before leaping. The person falling must be confident that their teammates will catch them, which is a very effective, even moving, display of faith. It can form a starting point for employees to be more at ease with their coworkers.

Prep Required: This activity doesn’t involve much prep work or additional equipment, which means it is very easy to arrange. The best part is that it works for teams of any size.

2.5. Figure out Two Truths and a Lie

Two Truths and a Lie is a fantastic icebreaker activity as well as one of the great trust building activities for work teams. It allows team members to share personal information in a fun and non-threatening way. This can help break down initial barriers and create a more comfortable atmosphere. Each member of your team takes turns stating three statements, two of which are true, while the third one is a lie. The rest of the team has to guess which one is the lie. Of course, there must be a set time limit given to those guessing.

Prep Required: Nothing for this game, though try and keep the groups small.

2.6. Attempt The Human Knot Challenge

The Human Knot challenge is a team building activity that can significantly enhance trust within groups. In this game, participants form a tight-knit circle, interlocking their arms with one another, and then work together to untangle themselves without letting go. To do this, start by dividing your team into groups of at least six individuals. Ask each group to form a circle and stand close together.

To play this each person must link their hands with two others in the circle, except those immediately to their right or left. Once everyone has linked hands, ask each group to unravel the circle without letting go of each other’s hands. Success in the game depends on effective communication as team members must work together to find a solution. This is one of the best, low-effort team building activities for the workplace to build trust.

Prep Required: To play this game effectively you need a large open space.

2.7. Become a Human Pinball

Everyone has played pinball, but did you know there is a version of it that also makes for a good choice in great team building activities for building trust? In this form of Pinball, participants form a circle and guide one person through its center. This will require you to form groups of at least ten individuals. Each team will randomly choose one individual and blindfold them. The activity begins with the blindfolded member being nudged into the middle of the circle. The game continues as the blindfolded member walks around the circle.

When they reach the opposite end, the person nearest them spins them around and nudges them in another direction. Everyone can take turns to be blindfolded, and there’s no set time limit. Pinball allows participants to face the fear of losing sight and relying on everyone around them to provide guidance. When employees help each other navigate the circle successfully, it builds trust, thus making it a great addition to the list of team building activities for work to build trust.

Prep Required: A large open space and a blindfold.

2.8. Try Flip Over

Flip Over is one of the best activities for teams to build trust. It involves dividing your employees into smaller groups and making them stand on a tarp or a sheet of plastic. The groups must proceed to flip the tarp or plastic without setting their foot off the material.

The complicated nature of FlipOver makes it one of the best team building activities for building trust. The activity requires a lot of coordination and cannot be completed without the participants cooperating, communicating, and listening to each other. It makes good practice for healthy communication in the workplace.

Prep Required: Open space, piece of tarp/plastic.

2.9. Navigate Through a Blind Trail

The Blind Trail is a blindfolded obstacle course and is also a fun addition to the list of team building activities for trust. It takes place on an open field with various large objects as obstacles. A rope is tied from one end of the course to the other. Once the field is set up, divide participants into groups of four or five and blindfold everyone. Arrange all team members in a line while holding onto the rope.

Each team must navigate the obstacle course with just the rope as their guide. Verbal communication and cooperation are absolutely crucial as they need to start and end the obstacle course in the same order that they began. They must also keep holding onto the rope.

Prep Required: Creation of an obstacle course, blindfolds.

2.10. Free Yourself From The Frostbite

If you are looking for team building trust activities for adults, Frostbite is a good one. The Frostbite activity involves blindfolded groups pitching a tent with the help of verbal instructions from one member who can see but not move. For this, you need to separate your employees into teams of five or six. Then, supply each group with newspapers, string, and tape dispensers. Groups must choose one member to be their guide. They cannot move at any point, as they are the ones with the frostbite. The rest of the group will be blindfolded.

When given the signal, the blindfolded members must start pitching a makeshift tent using the given items. They must do their best to follow the instructions of the non-moving “frostbit” member to win the game.

With team building activities that build trust like Frostbite, your team gets first-hand experience of what it’s like to coordinate in a difficult situation. It engages listening and communication skills while developing leadership abilities.

Prep Required: Blindfolds, newspapers, string, and tape dispensers.

3. FAQs

3.1. How do you build trust in your team activities?

To build trust in your team building activities, make sure to give your employees a heads-up about it. Openly communicate the details of the relationship building activities and choose something that everyone will find enjoyable. Arrange food and drinks to help your employees relax as they participate in the activities.

3.2. Which Team-Building Game Is Played to Build Trust?

Some of the best team building games for building trust are Two Truths and a Lie, Trust Falls, Pinball, Human Knot, and Frostbite.

3.3. How can team-building activities for building trust play a vital role in an organization?

Building trust in a team has several key benefits. It increases resilience by fostering a safe environment for risk-taking and adaptation, leading to innovation and competitiveness. Trust also boosts employee engagement, reducing stress and enhancing productivity. Additionally, team building activities for work trust decrease workspace conflicts through improved communication and mutual respect.