I’m looking for a trust building exercise for a newly formed group [other than] a “Trust Walk” type of exercise. Any suggestions?

From the LinkedIn Professional Facilitators Network Group

Have you considered using a traditional story about patience, such as “The Tigers Whisker“?  Stories promote an understanding of how we are bound together by shared experiences. Shared experience is one way to build trust. You can tell the story and then take five minutes to allow each participant to jot down a story of their own in which the use of patience had value.  We are very goal focused and sometimes forget the value of the process. This story and exercise can be used as a jumping off point for facilitated discussion.  – John Schraven
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Here’s a good one: pair the group up into dyads, and have one person stand in front of the other, with their back to the person behind them. They should be about 6-12 inches apart. When the person in front is ready, have them fall backward into the arms of the person behind them. If that goes well, then they can stand a bit farther apart, so the distance between them is widening, but the person “catching” is still catching the one in front as they get farther apart. Obviously, this promotes trust on both sides, and it also requires that they not get SO far apart the catcher can’t catch the “fall-er.” –Geoff Laughton

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