Building Trust the “high V” Way

During our needs assessments with most organizations the topic at some point usually seems to turn to trust – or the lack of. Today’s workplace is ever changing from both a process and people perspective. The constant rate of change can have a large impact on trust within an organization. When trust is low, there is a tendency for collaboration and information sharing to drop. When trust is low, people have a tendency to stick to themselves, withdraw to their cubicles or work areas and disassociate from their teams. On the other hand, when trust is high, information flow is the norm, collaboration strives, innovation expounds and productivity prospers.

One way to build trust between workers is with a ropes course training and development experience. A ropes course is typically a series for physical challenges that can be low to the ground or as high as 50 feet above the ground. Ropes courses are also referred to as Team Challenge Courses, Ropes Challenge Courses, Low Ropes Courses, Obstacle Courses, Assault Courses, and Commando Courses.

A ropes course, when designed, facilitated, and used as a development tool, provides a very powerful experience for building trust. Many organizations use ropes course experiences for this specific reason. The key to these ropes course experiences is to design a simulation that mirrors workplace trust issues in the activities.

An example of this is a ropes course activity called a “High V” or paired cable walk. Working in pairs, participants move down two 20 foot lengths of cable suspended approximately 25 feet above the ground, which diverge from a common point until they are approximately 10 feet apart. The goal for the partners is to stay connected while each walking down one of the lengths of the cables. Partners can stay on the cables to the end if they lean on and commit themselves to their partner.

Success on the “High V” happens when partners find an equal balance on the activity. This can only happen when both members let go of control, take a leap of faith, and trust that his or her partner can support them.

As the partners complete the “High V” ropes course activity a trained facilitator directs them through a processing discussion with questions that relate directly to trust in the workplace. The partners discuss what it is like “leaning in” with relationships vs. “leaning away” from relations. The tone of the facilitated discussion is focused on the possibility of improving relationships by building trust.

The outcome of the ropes course experience and the facilitated discussion is a commitment to a trust building action plan to ensure that the learning is implemented back at the workplace.

In closing, utilizing a ropes course experience can be just the experience an organization needs to enhance trust in the workplace.

For more information regarding ropes course experience, please contact The Corporate Learning Institute at-1-800-203-6734