How to Build Trust in Teams

One of the key conclusions from the Building Trust Project research was that despite the importance of trust in the effective operation of teams, there were very few tools to actually help build trust. As a result the set of tools they developed, drawing from a wide range of approaches, is meant to help teams to build that trust, by:

• Building team awareness and collaboration around the importance of trust bysharing experiences, storytelling and creating opportunities for the team to communicate and bond
• Building a means for communicating and working together as a team – focusing on cultural and individual differences
• Helping team members get to know each other with an emphasis on developing trusting relationships

In this abridged version, we have selected 8 of the initial 10 tools, which can all be used with the team concerned. Each tool has a different focus but they can be used in whatever way is appropriate to a team’s needs. Each is linked to the ten criteria of trust and can help address one or more of those, and may be useful at different times in the life of a team.

For quick reference and choice of what may best meet the team’s needs, in this handbook, tools have been organized in an index according to the trust criteria they most relate to as well as the time requested to use them with a team.