If you look at your team as a well-oiled machine, trust is essential to keep everything running smoothly. Without it, even the most talented teams will grind to a halt, creating friction that damages both relationships and results.
The data speaks volumes about trust's impact on performance. According to Gallup, teams with high trust levels are 50% more productive than their low-trust counterparts. Even more compelling, Harvard Business Review reports that employees at high-trust organizations experience 74% less stress and 106% more energy at work than those at low-trust companies.
These aren't just impressive statistics—they're a clear business case for investing in team-building activities that transform your team's functions. When team members trust each other, they communicate more openly, take appropriate risks, and collaborate more effectively. The result? Innovation flourishes, problems get solved faster, and your organization gains a significant competitive advantage.
In this comprehensive guide, you'll discover 25 carefully selected trust-building activities that address different aspects of team dynamics. From physical challenges that create literal trust falls to communication exercises that build psychological safety, these proven activities will help you develop the foundation your team needs to perform at its highest level.
Trust-building activities deliver measurable returns on your time investment, creating both immediate and long-term benefits for your organization. Here's what you can expect when you prioritize trust development:
Improved Employee Engagement: When team members trust each other and their leadership, they invest more of themselves in their work. According to Deloitte's "The Four Factors of Trust," employees who feel trusted are 50% less likely to search for another job and demonstrate 41% lower absenteeism rates. This translates directly to higher retention, reduced recruitment costs, and more consistent performance.
Enhanced Team Collaboration: Trust eliminates the hesitation that often hampers effective teamwork. When team members believe their colleagues have good intentions and reliable capabilities, they share ideas more freely, provide honest feedback, and work together more seamlessly on complex projects. This collaborative efficiency becomes particularly valuable when facing tight deadlines or navigating organizational changes.
Boosted Problem-Solving Skills: Activities like scavenger hunts and escape rooms don't just build trust—they enhance your team's collective problem-solving abilities. By working through challenges together, teams develop communication patterns and decision-making approaches that transfer directly to workplace challenges. You'll notice faster resolution of issues and more innovative solutions emerging from teams with strong trust foundations.
Stronger Company Culture: Regular trust-building exercises reinforce your organizational values and create a culture where psychological safety flourishes. New team members integrate more quickly, diverse perspectives get heard, and your company becomes known as a place where people can do their best work.
By dedicating even a few minutes to trust-building activities, organizations can create healthy, real relationships among employees, leading to higher morale, productivity, and success.
25 Best Trust Building Activities for 2025
Trust forms the foundation of productive teams, driving collaboration, communication, and productivity in any workplace. This comprehensive guide presents the 25 most effective trust-building activities that can transform your team dynamics and create a more cohesive, supportive work environment.
Physical Trust-Building Activities
Physical trust-building exercises create tangible, memorable experiences demonstrating mutual reliance's power. These activities often push participants slightly outside their comfort zones, creating shared vulnerability that accelerates trust development.
Activity
Group Size
Duration
Materials Needed
Key Benefits
Human Knot
6-20 participants
15-30 minutes
None
Teamwork, communication, problem-solving under physical constraints
Minefield/Trust Walk
4-20 participants (in pairs)
20-40 minutes
Blindfolds, obstacles (cones, chairs, etc.)
Communication, guidance, reliance on others
Trust Fall/Trust Box
6-40 participants
15-30 minutes
Raised platform (optional), soft surface
Physical trust, team support, vulnerability
Willow in the Wind
6-20 participants
10-20 minutes
None
Supportive environment, physical trust, team safety
Blindfolded Mini Golf
4-12 participants (teams of 3-4)
30-60 minutes
Mini golf equipment, blindfolds
Fun, guidance, communication, reliance on teammates
1. Human Knot
A Human Knot is a popular team-building exercise where team members stand in a circle and reach across to hold hands with others who aren't beside them. The challenge is to untangle the resulting knot without breaking the chain of hands. Team members learn to trust each other's guidance through communication and physical coordination.
Duration: 15-30 minutes Group size: 6-20 participants Why it works for teams: It promotes teamwork, communication, and trust by requiring team members to rely on each other to solve the puzzle.
2. Minefield/Trust Walk
In the Minefield or Trust Walk, team members pair up with one person while blindfolded. The sighted partner must verbally guide their blindfolded teammate through an obstacle course. But there’s a catch: no physical contact is allowed. This exercise builds trust as the blindfolded person must rely entirely on their partner's instructions.
Duration: 20-40 minutes Group size: 4-20 participants (in pairs) Why it works for teams: It enhances trust, communication, and reliance on each other's guidance, fostering mutual support.
3. Trust Fall/Trust Box
The Trust Fall remains one of the most direct trust-building exercises and an effective team-building activity. Team members take turns falling backward into the arms of their teammates, requiring complete confidence that they'll be caught. This activity physically demonstrates the concept of trusting others with your safety, making it a metaphor for workplace relationships.
Duration: 15-30 minutes Group size: 6-40 participants Why it works for teams: It builds trust by creating a tangible experience of reliance on others for safety.
4. Willow in the Wind
In the Willow in the Wind activity, one person stands in the center of a tight circle formed by their teammates. With eyes closed, the center person falls in any direction, trusting the circle to catch them and gently push them to another part of the circle. This exercise creates a physical manifestation of how a supportive team provides safety and support.
Duration: 10-20 minutes Group size: 6-20 participants Why it works for teams: It demonstrates the concept of a supportive team environment, fostering trust and a sense of security among members.
5. Blindfolded Mini Golf
In Blindfolded Mini Golf teams head to a mini-golf course with one blindfolded member attempting to hit the ball while being guided by their teammates' verbal instructions. This activity builds trust while adding an element of fun to the challenge.
Duration: 30-60 minutes Group size: 4-12 participants (in teams of 3-4) Why it works for teams: It combines fun with trust-building by requiring team members to rely on each other's communication and guidance.
Communication-Based Trust Activities
Communication-based trust activities focus on improving how team members share ideas, listen actively, and interpret information. These trust-building activities, such as back-to-back drawing or storytelling, help team members develop stronger communication skills while fostering understanding and empathy. Regardless of your group size - a small team or large group-, these exercises lay the foundation for meaningful relationships and teamwork:
Comfort with vulnerability, deeper connection, trust
Personal Story Sharing
4-20 participants
30-60 minutes
Story prompts, comfortable space
Empathy, understanding, deeper connection
Trust Ladder
4-30 participants
60 minutes
Sticky notes, pens, whiteboard
Vulnerability, empathy, psychological safety
6. Back-to-Back Drawing
Back-to-Back Drawing is an engaging team-building activity and an excellent icebreaker game for work. Pairs sit back-to-back. One person holds a picture, while the other has paper and a pencil. The person with the picture must describe it in detail without revealing what it is, and their partner attempts to draw it based only on verbal instructions. This exercise highlights the importance of clear communication and trusting others' guidance.
Duration: 15-30 minutes Group size: 4-40 participants (in pairs) Why it works for teams: It enhances communication skills by emphasizing the need for precise and effective verbal guidance.
7. Two Truths and a Lie
In the Two Truths and a Lie activity, each team member shares three statements about themselves—two true and one false. The rest of the team must guess which statement is the lie. This trust-building activity helps team members learn surprising facts about each other while practicing discernment and honesty.
Duration: 10-20 minutes Group size: 4-40 participants Why it works for teams: It encourages team members to get to know each other better, fostering a sense of camaraderie and openness, which are essential for building trust.
8. Eye Contact Challenge
The Eye Contact Challenge involves team members pairing up and maintaining unbroken eye contact for a set period, typically 1-2 minutes. Although this seems simple, this exercise can be challenging and powerful, helping to break down communication barriers and build comfort with vulnerability – a key component of trust.
Duration: 1-5 minutes per pair Group size: 4-20 participants (in pairs) Why it works for teams: It helps participants become more comfortable with vulnerability and intimacy, creating a deeper sense of connection and trust among team members.
9. Personal Story Sharing
Personal Story Sharing is a trust-related activity that creates a structured space for team members to share personal stories—perhaps about overcoming challenges, important life lessons, or formative experiences. When people reveal their authentic aspects, it creates mutual understanding and accelerates trust formation.
Duration: 30-60 minutes Group size: 4-20 participants Why it works for teams: It fosters empathy and understanding by allowing team members to connect on a deeper level, building trust through shared vulnerability and openness.
10. Trust Ladder
In the Trust Ladder activity, team members write down personal and professional goals and fears on sticky notes, and then share them in a supportive group setting. This trust-building exercise fosters vulnerability and empathy as team members learn about each other's motivations and challenges. By creating a safe space for sharing, the Trust Ladder builds a foundation of psychological safety.
Duration: 60 minutes Group size: 4-30 participants Why it works for teams: It encourages vulnerability and empathy, creating a safe environment where team members feel supported and understood.
Problem-Solving Trust Activities
Problem-solving trust activities challenge small teams and large groups to tackle complex tasks that require strategic thinking and creative solutions. Examples include escape rooms or an amazing race, where success depends on each individual's contributions and the team's ability to work cohesively under pressure. These team-building exercises promote trust by highlighting the value of collaboration and showcasing how different perspectives lead to problem-solving. Here are a few
Activity
Group Size
Duration
Materials Needed
Key Benefits
Egg Drop
8-30 participants (teams of 4-6)
60 minutes
Raw eggs, office supplies, drop location
Problem-solving, stronger relationships, trust in ideas
Amazing Race Game
10-50 participants
2-4 hours
Challenge materials, clues, checkpoints
Team bonding, communication skills, quick decision-making
Escape Room
4-10 participants per room
60-90 minutes
Escape room booking or virtual platform
Team dynamics, problem-solving, trust in abilities
Personal connection, trust building, positive environment
11. Egg Drop
The Egg Drop challenge is a classic trust team building exercise where group members receive limited office supplies to create a protective structure for a raw egg. This team building activity requires creative thinking and collaboration as teams design, build, and test their structures. The moment of truth—when the egg survives or breaks—provides instant feedback on the team's efforts to achieve success.
Duration: 60 minutes
Group size: 8-30 participants (in teams of 4-6)
Why it works for teams: It promotes problem-solving, fosters stronger relationships, and builds trust in each other's ideas while providing a competitive spirit and team bonding.
12. Amazing Race Game
The Amazing Race Game, one of the best outdoor team-building activities, involves teams completing different challenges while racing against each other. These multi-faceted tasks require team members to trust each other's abilities and judgment under time pressure, encouraging team bonding through shared experiences.
Duration: 2-4 hours
Group size: 10-50 participants
Why it works for teams: It encourages team bonding, improves communication skills, and fosters quick decision-making in a fun, competitive environment.
13. Escape Room
Escape Rooms, whether physical or virtual, are effective team-building activities that require teams to solve interconnected puzzles within a time limit. These puzzles demand team members trust each other's strengths and insights, often discovering talents among colleagues.
Duration: 60-90 minutes
Group size: 4-10 participants per room
Why it works for teams: It benefits the entire group as it’s an activity that fosters team dynamics, enhances problem-solving skills, and builds trust in each other's abilities.
14. Blind Square
In the Blind Square trust-building exercise, blindfolded team members must use a rope to form a perfect square shape. This team-building game requires precise communication and trust in collective abilities, as no one can see the overall progress.
Duration: 30 minutes
Group size: 8-20 participants
Why it works for teams: It emphasizes the importance of clear communication, leadership, and trusting others' input when working towards a common goal.
15. Organizational Jenga
Organizational Jenga is a trust team-building activity that uses a giant Jenga set with questions or challenges written on each block. As players remove blocks, they must respond to the prompts, adding a trust-building component to the familiar game as people share insights and demonstrate vulnerability.
Duration: 45 minutes
Group size: 6-20 participants
Why it works for teams: It combines a familiar game with personal sharing, helping team members connect on a deeper level while building trust and creating a positive work environment.
Cultural and Creative Trust Activities
Cultural and creative trust activities celebrate diversity and open space for self-expression while building connections among team members. These team-building activities foster mutual respect, enhance understanding of others' backgrounds, and contribute to a more inclusive culture, making them ideal for promoting collaboration in both small groups and larger teams.
Activity
Group Size
Duration
Materials Needed
Key Benefits
Around the World Cooking
8-20 participants
2-4 hours
Kitchen facilities, ingredients, recipes
Personal relationships, cultural appreciation, team connections
Pet Projects
Any size
60 minutes
Presentation equipment, personal passion materials
Humanizing team members, deeper understanding, team bonding
Strategic thinking, collaboration, trust in abilities
Book Club
5-30 participants
1-2 hours per meeting
Books, discussion questions, meeting space
Intellectual engagement, open dialogue, communication skills
16. Around the World Cooking
Around the World Cooking is a trust team-building activity that celebrates cultural diversity. Team members prepare dishes from their backgrounds, fostering team relationships and knowledge sharing. This team-building event builds trust and appreciation for diversity, enhancing company culture through the universal language of food.
Duration: 2-4 hours Group size: 8-20 participants Why it works for teams: It encourages personal relationships, and builds connections among group members, creating a more cohesive team.
17. Pet Projects
Pet Projects is one of the best team-building activities, creating a forum for team members to share their passions unrelated to work. These presentations allow the entire team to see different dimensions of their colleagues, building mutual respect and understanding beyond professional roles. Recognizing other team members as whole people with diverse interests builds authentic connections.
Duration: 60 minutes Group size: Any size Why it works for teams: It humanizes group members, revealing talents and passions, which leads to deeper understanding and trust, enhancing overall team bonding.
18. Volunteer or Community Service
Organizing team volunteer activities for local causes creates experiences outside the workplace while contributing to something with a positive impact. Whether serving at a food bank or beach clean-ups, these activities allow team members to see each other's values in action and build trust through shared purpose.
Duration: 2-8 hours Group size: 5-50 participants Why it works for teams: It builds camaraderie through meaningful experiences, allows new team members to integrate quickly, and fosters a sense of collective purpose crucial for the team's success.
19. Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger Hunts are easily adaptable to different scenarios. This team-building game, either in-office or city-wide, requires teams to locate specific items or complete challenges against time. The combination of strategy, coordination, and movement sets the stage for trust-building as team members rely on each other's strengths to succeed.
Duration: 1-3 hours Group size: 10-50 participants Why it works for teams: Scavenger hunts encourage strategic thinking, collaboration, and trust in other team members' abilities while providing an engaging experience outside the office.
20. Book Club
Establishing a workplace book club is an effective team building exercise where team members read and discuss the same book. This activity helps build trust through an exchange of ideas and insights, particularly when the discussion includes personal reflections. It's an excellent way for encouraging team members to get on the same page, literally and figuratively.
Duration: 1-2 hours per meeting, typically monthly Group size: 5-30 participants Why it works for teams: It promotes intellectual engagement, encourages open dialogue, and builds trust through sharing. This team bonding activity improves communication skills and creative thinking, and fosters creative problem-solving, benefiting the team ahead in work scenarios.
Virtual Trust-Building Activities
Virtual trust-building activities are designed for remote teams and create the space for connection despite geographical distance. Virtual team-building activities like escape rooms or online trivia games help virtual teams build trust by encouraging collaboration and communication through problem-solving experiences. These digital exercises make sure that even remote workers feel included in the team dynamic. Check them out:
Activity
Group Size
Duration
Materials Needed
Key Benefits
Virtual Escape Room
4-24 participants (teams of 4-8)
60-75 minutes
Video conferencing, virtual escape room platform
Problem-solving, communication, remote team cohesion
Personal connections, vulnerability, team cohesion
21. Virtual Escape Room
Who said in-person teams have all the fun? Virtual Escape Rooms are team-building games that bring puzzle-solving to virtual teams. These digital adventures are collaborative and require the same trust team building and communication as physical obstacle courses while accommodating distributed workforces. Team members work together to solve interconnected puzzles within about an hour to "escape" their virtual surroundings, fostering team cohesion.
Duration: 60-75 minutes Group size: 4-24 participants (in teams of 4-8) Why it works for teams: It enhances problem-solving skills, communication, and trust in other members' abilities while creating an experience for virtual teams, much like a digital team retreat.
22. Virtual Scavenger Hunt
In this engaging team building activity, remote team members search their homes or their surroundings – the nearest local park, for example – for specific items within a time limit. This team-building exercise creates engagement among distributed teams while encouraging quick thinking and honest participation—both essential elements for building trust and fostering strong relationships in virtual settings.
Duration: 60 minutes Group size: 5-50 participants Why it works for teams: It promotes creativity, quick thinking, and trust in remote settings while providing an engaging experience that bridges physical distances and strengthens team connections.
23. Team Trivia
Virtual Team Trivia competitions are team-building exercises that allow new team members and veterans alike to demonstrate knowledge in different areas while working together toward a common goal. This team-building game combines learning about colleagues' expertise and collaborating under pressure, building trust in an entertaining format that works well for both in-person and virtual teams.
Duration: 30-60 minutes Group size: 8-50 participants Why it works for teams: It encourages collaboration and trust in team members' diverse expertise while providing a competitive environment that puts everyone on the same page.
24. Sound Off
In Sound Off, small groups try to guess words or phrases from images without using sound, requiring creative problem-solving and non-verbal communication. This team-building event helps to build trust by demonstrating how other group members can understand each other even with limited communication channels, enhancing teamwork skills.
Duration: 20-30 minutes Group size: 6-20 participants Why it works for teams: It enhances non-verbal communication skills, creativity, and trust in team members' ability to interpret information, contributing to a more successful team.
25. Ice Breaker Questions
Ice Breaker Questions are thoughtfully designed team-building exercises that encourage sharing between team members to build connections, especially beneficial for new team members quickly. Questions might range from “What's the best advice you've ever received?” to “What's something most people don't know about you?”. This team-building activity creates opportunities for disclosure builds the familiarity that underlies trust and team cohesion.
Duration: 15-30 minutes Group size: 5-20 participants Why it works for teams: This activity helps team members get to know each other on a personal level and builds trust through vulnerability and openness, creating stronger team connections essential for virtual teams.
Organize your next team building event with TeamOut
Trust isn't just a nice-to-have in today's business environment—it's the foundation that determines whether your team will struggle or thrive. The activities outlined in this guide provide proven approaches to building the trust your team needs to perform at its highest level.
Whether your team is co-located, remote, or hybrid, these carefully selected exercises address the core components of trust development: vulnerability, reliability, competence, and shared values.
By incorporating these activities into your regular team rhythm, you'll create the psychological safety and mutual confidence that enables peak performance.
TeamOut designs and facilitates transformative team experiences that build lasting trust and connection. With access to over 4,000 international venues and experience managing more than 600 successful events, our team can craft the perfect trust-building program tailored to your specific organizational needs.
Our industry expertise typically saves clients up to 30% on venue costs while delivering exceptional experiences that create lasting impact.
Ready to transform your team through the power of trust? Contact Us today for a Free consultation and take the first step toward building the high-trust, high-performance team your organization needs.
Thomas Mazimann, a French entrepreneur and former international kayaking athlete, transitioned from sports to tech after moving to the U.S. He co-founded TeamOut, revolutionizing team gatherings.
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