Communication Exercise: Do You Trust Others?

Purpose

We all have different levels of trust in different situations. Sometimes the variation is not much and sometimes it is too high. We seem to be defensive and on guard while others feel comfortable. This is usually to do with our previous experiences as we derive our grand rules from our life experience. It pays to know how others feel in certain situations, so you can become aware of your trust level and how you compare with others.

Objective

Rate your trust level with others based on a number of situations.

What You Need

• A wall and a clear space.

Setup

• Ask delegates to stand next to the wall, with their backs to it.
• Explain that you are now going to present a number of situations. For each situation, you want delegates to express how they rate their trust in that situation. For no trust they should remain where they are. For maximum unconditional trust, they should move three steps forwards. Moving one or two steps means lower trust respectively.
• After each situation, ask delegates to return to the wall and repeat the process
• State the following situations:
  • Your manager wants you to work overtime on Saturdays.
  • Your colleague wants you to carry out his important tasks for a couple of days as he is off-sick.
  • Your colleague wants to borrow your car for the weekend.
  • Your colleague wants to borrow your book.
  • Your boss wants to see you after work late on Friday.
• Get back everyone together and follow with a discussion.

Timing

Explaining the Exercise: 2 minutes

Activity: 10 minutes

Group Feedback: 10 minutes

Discussion

Were you similar to others in your level of trust? In what situations most people had the same trust level? In what situations, you felt very differently to others? What does this exercise suggest? Which areas do you need to work on, perhaps to increase your trust in areas that others rated more than you?