Team Trust & Rapport

Free team building lesson plan tool for building team trust introduction:

The more a leader can do to encourage team members to share important information, especially about each other's outside interests, the more united the team has a chance of becoming. The tighter the connection between employees, the stronger their will to succeed by working together will be.

Consistency in how a leader responds to team members is a key factor in the team's willingness to trust the leader. If team members cannot correctly foresee how the leader will respond to an issue, their level of trust will be minimized.

"Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, not of words. Trust movement."
- Alfred Adler

Team relationships that are based in mutual trust and respect are highly sustainable even in a highly competitive working environment.

Trust - both between team members and organizations, will always be at the core of their ability to succeed in our fast-paced competitive society.

Use these team building lesson plan exercises to increase and improve trust and rapport within your team.

Team Building Lesson Plan & Exercises for Trust & Rapport

Who Are We?

Purpose of this activity: Use this team building lesson plan as a blue print for how a Leader can build trust and rapport by clearly communicating the importance of Leadership, Teamwork and Customer Service.

Explanation: Consider using the following Leader Notes as talking points for your next staff meeting. These notes contain universal team building lesson plan bullet points so you may even want to use these key talking points over several team meetings.

Leadership

• Teach/Coach/Expect - talk about the importance for all managers to be hands-on in teaching and coaching employees - only then can they justify holding employees accountable to meet all expectations. Leaders take ownership and are accountable for behavior and performance of the team.
• Motivation - It's a personal choice every employee makes daily when they walk in the door. It's not the leader's responsibility to motivate employees, but it is our responsibility to hire self-motivated individuals and then provide a working environment that supports and inspires employees to want to consistently improve their skills.
• Lead a Growth Environment - every 90 days we must grow. Businesses either grow, or eventually they die. We will grow by anticipating and meeting our customers needs, improving current relationships and developing new business.

Teamwork

• Definition of "FUN" - Fun in our organization is defined as when we achieve our goals after working extremely hard. The thrill of victory is only a thrill if the prize is hard-fought. When we are creative in finding solutions, plan appropriately and then put forth monumental effort toward achieving our vision - the feeling we then experience is whole lot of FUN!
• Energy/Enthusiasm > Experience - While experience is certainly valued in every company, it's been proven that individuals who are highly energetic and enthusiastic can more quickly gain experience and do a phenomenal job. To the contrary however, experienced individuals who do not possess the energy and enthusiasm for their job, should go somewhere else to work. Those without a passion for their work should not be hired in the first place.

Customer Service

• Every Employee Takes It Personal- When a customer leaves to do business with a competitor, you should take it personal. Taking it personal means you care. Taking it personal means you are disturbed enough to change what you are doing so that next time you will win the business. Taking it personal ensures you get to the top and stay on top. How "disturbed" are you when you lose a good employee?
• We Have The Advantage! - We have the secret weapon. We have something that none of our competitors can claim to possess. We have "that which makes the big difference". What is it you say? Simple, WE HAVE YOU!

  YOU are the key to the success of this organization. YOU make the difference with each customer interaction. YOU are my secret weapon - and I truly value and appreciate all that you do.

The bullet points provided above are key messages that you can use in future meetings. These messages are powerful in helping to build trust and rapport with your team. Use these messages to help create a team building lesson plan for success!

People Power!

Purpose of this activity: To build trust and rapport among team members by providing a team building lesson plan exercise that will open dialogue and build strong working relationships.

Explanation: In an effort to build added trust and rapport, have each of your team members take a sheet of paper and write down the following facts:

1. List three words that they feel best describes their professional talents. (Try not to give away your job description or you will be easily identified.)
2. List any particular skill or talent that you possess that no one in the workplace is currently aware of.
3. Name 2-3 things that you aspire to learn or experience during your lifetime.

The leader will collect all of the sheets and post them on the wall. The leader must assign a number to each of the sheets as a reference point.

Next, have each team member write down the names of all of their co-workers and then try to match the names of their co-workers with the correct numbered sheet that is posted on the wall.

Once everyone has finished, the leader will lead a discussion asking team members to identify their sheet. Ask each team member to elaborate on his or her special skill or talent. Inquire about what has motivated their life goals, etc.

In conclusion, the team leader can make a point of recognizing the "collective talent" in the room. They may even find that some unknown talent can now be used to help the team in a current or future project!

Learning new things about team members is an important part of your team building lesson plan and a great way to further strengthen trust and rapport between team members.

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Next Team Building At Work Chapters

» Accountability
Leverage every team building idea and exercise to promote highly motivated employees who respond well to accountability.

» Commitment
Gaining commitment of your team is critical to your bottom-line results. Team building ideas provide fun way to increase employee commitment.

» Communication
Effective, honest and open communication is encouraged via team building activities. Check out these fun ice breaker ideas.