20 Trust Exercises to Try With Work

1. Minefield

Interactions without trust can feel like trying to navigate a minefield. This fun activity changes that. Perfect for 8 to 16 participants, this blindfolded obstacle course enhances team trust through communication and collaboration between coworkers.

In this activity, one partner is blindfolded while the other guides them through an obstacle course using only verbal cues. The obstacles can be anything from chairs to office supplies. This activity encourages team cohesion and trust. Why not add a time element for extra excitement and healthy competition? 

Time required: 45 minutes
Trust benefit: Strengthens verbal communication and reliance on others.

2. Memory Wall

Use sticky notes or a digital whiteboard to capture meaningful team memories and milestones. Encourage employees to document personal or team achievements, challenges overcome, and fun moments. Reflecting on shared history builds emotional connection and trust among colleagues. 

Bonus! If clients or external stakeholders see this when visiting the office, it stands out, looks good, and offers a further discussion point.

Time required: 30-60 minutes
Trust benefit: Encourages team bonding through shared experiences.

3. Game Hour

Whether it's a daily crossword, Wordle, or dusting off a board game like Codenames or Pictionary, taking time to play together builds camaraderie and trust. Games help teams relax, communicate casually, and develop psychological safety through interpersonal development.

Time required: 30-60 minutes
Trust benefit: Fosters positive team culture and builds informal trust.

4. Someday Lists

Make one day into tomorrow with this goal-setting activity. Split into small groups and ask team members to list things they’ve always wanted to do (bucket list items, personal or professional dreams). Discuss the items as a group and explore ways to support each other’s goals, and watch as those wish lists become to-do lists.

Time required: 30 minutes
Trust benefit: Builds empathy and humanises colleagues through personal sharing.

5. Eat Together

When days get busy, it can be tempting to eat your food at your desk, scrolling through emails and preparing for your next meeting, but this offers no opportunity for social interaction with your co-workers. If feasible, host a potluck in the office once a month, encouraging staff members to bring in their favourite dishes or snacks, or get out for a team lunch. This can foster trust through suggestions and recommendations, and who isn't satisfied and more open to communication after eating a delicious meal?

Time required: 1-2 hours
Trust benefit: Boosts cooperation and encourages informal interactions.

6. Gratitude Tree

Boost trust and mindfulness in this positive addition to your workspace. Set up a fake plastic tree in a communal area in the office with note tags and pens. Encourage staff to write something or someone they’re grateful for. Read these out during monthly meetings. This activity will promote a culture of wellbeing in the workplace whilst recognising those unsung heroes. 

Time required: Ongoing
Trust benefit: Promotes appreciation and a positive team culture.

7. Role Reversal Day

Develop mutual respect and empathy amongst team members in a role reversal day. By swapping roles, colleagues will not only understand what their peers experience but may be able to offer an external perspective, highlighting opportunities for more efficient approaches

Time required: Half or full day
Trust benefit: Builds respect, team cohesion, and cross-functional trust.

8. Blind Drawing

Listen, communicate, and draw in this collaborative activity. In pairs, one teammate describes a drawing they can see while the other, who is unable to see it, attempts to recreate it using only verbal instructions. This fun and challenging exercise boosts active listening, clear communication, and trust in teamwork, often with hilarious results and great learning moments

Time required: 30 minutes
Trust benefit: Strengthens listening skills and mutual reliance

9. Blindfolded Mini Golf

You’ve tried crazy golf, now try it with a twist: blindfolded!  Colleagues take turns navigating a mini golf course blindfolded, guided only verbally by a colleague.

This creative challenge requires clear communication, active listening, and a high level of trust between partners. Perfect for breaking the ice or energising a team, this problem-solving activity combines laughter, focus, and collaboration.

Time required: 1-2 hours
Trust benefit: Reinforces trust, collaboration, and communication.

10. Rapid Fire Q&A

Reveal your colleagues with this rapid-fire question challenge. Build trust between coworkers by asking a volunteer to answer personal or professional questions from the team for 3-5 minutes before swapping roles. Encourages vulnerability and openness in a safe space.

Time required: 15-20 minutes
Trust benefit: Builds emotional intelligence, trust, and team bonding.

11. Scavenger Hunt

An office scavenger hunt is an entertaining icebreaker, perfect for new hires and team integration, whilst also including the entire office. Participants work in mixed teams of seasoned staff and newcomers to complete challenges like identifying office items and answering company trivia (e.g., “When was the company founded?” or “Who was our first customer?”). 

This activity fosters collaboration, encourages cross-team communication, and helps build a friendly workplace culture, laying the foundation for stronger employee relationships beyond day-to-day responsibilities.

Time required: 45 minutes
Trust benefit: Enhances employee engagement and boosts positive office culture

12. Frostbite 

Pitching a tent is a team activity, and in this scenario, you and team members are tasked with doing it blindfolded, led by a ‘frozen’ team lead. You don't actually have to bring your camping equipment into the office; instead, build a tent from office supplies. With limited vision and heightened reliance on verbal communication, teams must collaborate creatively and follow directions, building trust in their designated leader. 

The first group to successfully build a freestanding tent structure wins the challenge. This fun, fast-paced exercise highlights the importance of clear communication, team coordination, creative problem-solving, and trust in leadership, all while under playful pressure.

Time required: 45 minutes
Trust benefit: Trust in leadership, verbal communication

13. Stop, Start, Continue

Improve accountability, engage employees, and foster trust in this three-part reflection tool. Stop, Start, Continue (the traffic light tool) can identify what actions to begin, cease, or maintain for future success.

 By asking each other open-ended questions and suggesting ways for improvement, team development is strengthened through constructive discussions and self awareness. Unlike rating systems, this method often leads to practical changes and is widely used in leadership, education, and feedback sessions.

Time required: 60 minutes
Trust benefit: Builds psychological safety through collective feedback.

14. Personal Presentation

Each participant gives a short presentation on three things that shaped who they are, supported by visuals (photos, objects, slides, etc.). This exercise invites people to share meaningful experiences, values, or influences, helping others see them beyond their roles at work.

By encouraging storytelling and personal reflection, this session creates space for empathy and emotional connection, key ingredients for psychological safety and trust within teams.

 Bonus! This presentation can also be used as part of your own portfolio, offering an opportunity for reflection on achievements.

Time required: 1-4 hours
Trust benefit: Encourages openness and storytelling.

15. Two Truths and a Lie

A classic trust exercise that fosters creativity, imagination, and an opportunity to get to know your co-workers better, and to also understand who is the best liar. Come up with two truths and a lie and get your team members to work out what the truths are.

Time required: 10-15 minutes
Trust benefit: clear communication and understanding with coworkers

16. Perfect Square 

In this classic trust exercise, participants are blindfolded and must work together to form a perfect square using a rope. Using only verbal communication, team members must rely on collaboration, active listening, and strategic problem-solving to create a perfect square.

Once the group believes the square is complete, they can remove their blindfolds. Whether it’s a near-perfect shape or an amusing abstract form, either outcome leads to valuable discussion around what strategies were effective, where miscommunication occurred, and how the team navigated uncertainty and shared responsibility.

This exercise is both fun and insightful, promoting trust, team cohesion, and leadership under pressure.

Time required: 40-45 minutes
Trust benefit: Reinforces communication and spatial awareness.

17. Trust Battery

This constructive conversation starter fosters emotional intelligence, psychological safety, and authentic communication within teams. In this exercise, coworkers rate how much they trust one another on a scale of 1% to 100%, creating a powerful opportunity for vulnerability, honesty, and personal development.

Through open dialogue and actionable feedback, uncover hidden workplace dynamics and explore specific actions that could strengthen integrity and promote growth between employees. Lay the foundation for stronger interpersonal connections and a more collaborative workplace culture in this open conversation.

Time required: 30-45 minutes
Trust benefit: Encourages honesty and identifies trust gaps.

18. Human Spring

Bring your team together in this powerful trust-building exercise. Partners of a similar height face each other with their palms pressed together and lean in to balance. Gradually, they step their feet back while maintaining hand contact, increasing reliance on one another. The further back they go, the more trust is required to stay upright. The pair with the widest stance wins. Swapping partners after each round encourages new connections and helps break down cliques, fostering unity and mutual trust within the team.

Time required: 15-25 minutes
Trust benefit: Focuses on reliance and communication to foster trust

19. Translated Rant

Sometimes, taking the time to talk with a member of the team to air frustration in a safe space can be an effective way to build trust. In this situation, one team member vents about an issue, and the other actively listens, trying to understand the emotional need or core concern behind it. This paired sharing can lead to conflict resolution through integrity,  internal communication, and active listening.

Time required: 30 minutes
Trust benefit: Useful for addressing tension or misunderstandings in a productive, low-pressure way.

20. Egg Drop Challenge

A fun and engaging trust exercise that puts your team's collaboration, creativity, and mutual reliance to the test. Given a limited set of materials, teams must design and build a protective case to prevent a raw egg from breaking when dropped from a height.
Can your team build a strong enough structure to protect the egg and trust each other enough to make it work? This challenge is a lighthearted yet impactful way to strengthen camaraderie while highlighting the importance of working toward a shared goal.

Time required: 1 hour
Trust benefit: Reinforces teamwork, strategy, and resilience.

Why is Building Trust Between Team Members So Important?

Trust allows employees to feel safe in a group environment, creating an atmosphere of stability so that if  anyone is unsure of something or thinks they can support by offering an alternative suggestion, people feel comfortable speaking up. Consolidated trust boosts confidence and creates a sense of belonging within the workforce, allowing employees to do their jobs more effectively.

Trust takes time, collaboration, accountability, and constructive conversations, so it is important to consistently work at it. Whether through workshops, blindfolded obstacle courses, or off-site challenges, positive workplace culture and high productivity are built on colleagues you can confide in, whether about a project or a personal dilemma. 

Whichever activity you choose to incorporate, try to encourage a period of reflection to reinforce the lessons learned and apply them to everyday work life. Trust is the backbone of every high-performing team, and investing in it pays off in stronger collaboration, better communication, and a happier workplace

Trust Building Activities at Make Venues

One of the best ways to build trust is outside the office, so why not host your trust exercises in one of our stylish, fully equipped meeting spaces in London, Bristol, or Leamington Spa? Make Venues is the perfect choice for your next off-site team-building adventure.

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