Meredith Baker
Trust exercises for teams that adults won't roll their eyes at
Meredith Baker, leadership coach and speaker. Not to be confused with Meredith Attwell Baker of CTIA.
The trust exercises that work for adult teams aren’t trust falls. They’re structured conversations that make it a little safer, each time, to say something true. Start low-risk and work up. I’m Meredith Baker, a Los Angeles facilitator and ICF certified coach. Team trust is the through-line of the offsites and workshops I lead. Below are nine exercises, from low risk to high. On a leadership offsite I recommend two of them: personal histories, then what each leader needs from the others. The rest are common structured conversations.
Meredith Baker, facilitator and ICF certified coach. Last reviewed Nov 11, 2026.
Why do trust exercises matter at work?
Google’s Project Aristotle studied what made its teams effective. Psychological safety came out on top: the shared belief that you can take a risk in front of each other without being punished for it. Harvard’s Amy Edmondson defined the idea in 1999. Trust exercises are a way to practice that risk in small, safe doses so the team can handle bigger ones in real meetings.
Nine trust exercises, low risk to high
| # | Exercise | Time | Risk | Use when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Personal histories | 20 to 30 min | Low | New team, or a team that only knows each other’s job titles |
| 2 | Best and worst team | 20 min | Low | Before you write team agreements |
| 3 | Two truths and a learning | 15 min | Low | Warm-up at an offsite |
| 4 | User manual | 30 min | Low to medium | New manager, or new hires joining |
| 5 | Appreciation round | 20 min | Medium | End of a hard quarter |
| 6 | “What I need from you” pairs | 30 to 45 min | Medium | Cross-functional friction |
| 7 | Pre-mortem | 45 min | Medium | Before a big launch or decision |
| 8 | Name the elephant | 45 min | High | Tension everyone feels and no one says |
| 9 | Feedback round | 60 min+ | High | Leadership teams with existing trust, ideally facilitated |
How to run each one
- Personal histories. Everyone answers three questions: where you grew up, how many siblings you have, and the hardest or most important challenge of your childhood. Patrick Lencioni popularized this one. It’s simple and it works.
- Best and worst team. Each person describes the best and the worst team they’ve ever been on. Then list together what the best ones had in common.
- Two truths and a learning. Two true facts about yourself, plus one thing you learned the hard way at work.
- User manual. Each person writes half a page: how I like to communicate, what stresses me, what people get wrong about me, how to give me feedback. Share in pairs, then with the group.
- Appreciation round. Each person names one specific thing a teammate did that helped them. Specific beats general.
- “What I need from you” pairs. Rotate pairs. Each person says one thing they need from the other person to do their job well. The listener just says thank you. No defending.
- Pre-mortem. Imagine it’s a year from now and the project failed. Each person writes down why. It makes it easy to raise worries without sounding negative.
- Name the elephant. People write the unspoken tension anonymously on cards. The facilitator reads them out and the team picks one to discuss.
- Feedback round. Each person hears one thing to keep doing and one thing to change from each colleague. Only do this with a skilled facilitator and existing trust.
Which trust exercises work best for leadership teams?
Leadership teams often skip the low-risk exercises because they think they don’t need them. Usually they do. On a leadership offsite I recommend personal histories, then what each leader needs from the others. The leadership offsite agenda shows where that sits in the day. Save a feedback round for a team that already has trust, and have a facilitator run it.
What to avoid
- Physical trust games like trust falls and blindfold walks. Many adults find them awkward or unsafe, and they don’t transfer to work.
- Forced vulnerability. Always let people pass.
- High risk too soon. A feedback round on day one, with a new team, does damage.
- No follow-through. If the elephant gets named and leaders do nothing, trust drops.
When to bring in a facilitator
Exercises 1 to 5 are safe to run yourself. For 8 and 9, and after a hard stretch, a reorg or a conflict between leaders, it helps to have someone neutral in the room. That’s what my team trust workshop is for. After layoffs, read how to rebuild trust on a team after layoffs first. For lighter prompts, see team connection questions.
Sources
- Google re:Work, “Understand team effectiveness” (Project Aristotle). https://rework.withgoogle.com/intl/en/guides/understanding-team-effectiveness (retrieved Nov 11, 2026)
- Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2). https://doi.org/10.2307/2666999
- Lencioni, P. (2002). The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Jossey-Bass.
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Questions
What are good trust exercises for work teams?
Personal histories, best-and-worst team, user manuals, appreciation rounds and "what I need from you" pairs. They're structured conversations, not games, and they ask for a little more openness each time. Start with low-risk ones and save feedback rounds or "name the elephant" for teams that already have some trust, ideally with a facilitator.
What are trust exercises for leadership teams?
Leadership teams do well with personal histories, user manuals, "what I need from you" pairs, pre-mortems and a facilitated feedback round. Because senior leaders often avoid conflict with peers, the most useful exercise is usually the one that names real tension. Run that one with a neutral facilitator so the CEO can take part, not referee.
How long should a trust exercise take?
Most take 15 to 45 minutes. Low-risk ones like two truths and a learning take about 15 minutes. Personal histories and user manuals take 20 to 30. Higher-risk ones like feedback rounds can take an hour or more for a team of eight. Build them into an offsite or a longer meeting rather than squeezing them into a weekly standup.
Do trust falls actually build trust?
Not much at work. Trust falls test whether you think someone will physically catch you, which has little to do with whether you'll admit a mistake in a meeting. Many adults find them uncomfortable. Structured conversations that practice small risks, like admitting a weakness or asking for help, transfer better to how teams actually work.
What if people don't want to participate?
Let them pass, and say so up front. Being forced to open up kills trust faster than anything. Start with lower-risk exercises, go first yourself as the leader, and keep groups small. Pairs and threes feel safer than the full room. Reluctance usually drops once people see that nothing bad happens when someone shares.
Can you do trust exercises virtually?
Yes. Personal histories, user manuals, appreciation rounds and pre-mortems all work on video in breakout rooms of two to four people. Use a shared document for written parts. Keep sessions under an hour, and avoid high-risk exercises online. They're harder to repair when they go badly and you can't talk afterward in person.
Who is Meredith Baker?
Meredith Baker is a facilitator and ICF certified coach in Los Angeles. She leads team trust workshops, offsites and leadership retreats. She has 10,000+ coaching hours and has hosted 200+ sold-out events in Los Angeles through Powerful Stuff (formerly More of That). She is not Meredith Attwell Baker, the former FCC commissioner and CTIA president.