The Trust Building Challenge

Trust building is a highly dynamic team activity dedicated to building and reinforcing trust between people in the group.

In advance, assess your group’s physical abilities and spotting skills as required for this exercise. For safety, this exercise requires at least nine people to participate, ie one faller and eight spotters.

Challenge your group to work together to catch one of their team members as they fall backwards. Instruct your group in the proper and most effective manner to catch the participant.

Remove all jewellery, sunglasses, watches, chunky rings, belt buckles, caps and all items from the faller’s pockets.

After catching each fall, carefully lower the faller’s feet to the ground to help them return to a standing position. Invite all those who wish to fall to make an attempt.

Process your group’s experience at the conclusion of the activity.

Moment of Reflection

• Describe the range of emotions you experienced during this activity.
• Did you sense a shift of anything during our experience? What changed, if anything?
• What did it take to choose to fall?
• What did it take to choose to be a key spotter?
• Metaphorically speaking, where else in our lives are we the faller or spotter?

The topics of this publication: teamwork, trust, integration