Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.

Help me prepare and run the exercise below. First ask for my participant count, time, setting, access needs and intended result. Check these against the stated limits. Use the supplied rules and materials. Explain any proposed changes before using them, and label them as adaptations. Do not invent source claims or require personal disclosure. Give me one step at a time when I say start. I manage the people, physical activity and clock; do not claim to observe the room. Ask me what happened before choosing a next step.

Reference revision: 42c1c5e643e7ece75e7c832494958f64bc8d7fa0f37f72e0a2070c7cda298727

# Team Trust

Small groups debate twelve trust factors to reach consensus on their top three priorities, unaware that a prompt about secret agendas was a simulation. A structured debrief uncovers how perceived hidden agendas alter group dynamics, openness, and decision-making.

**Time:** 30 minutes. Source specifies 30 minutes. The step breakdown preserves the exact 30-minute allocation.
**People:** 6 to 24. Small groups of 3 to 6 participants seated together.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Identify factors that influence team trust and observe how the suspicion of hidden agendas changes communication behavior.
**Use it when:** Use during intact team retreats or project kickoffs when a group needs to examine team norms, transparency, and collaboration habits.
**Skip it when:** Skip when severe distrust, ongoing workplace investigations, or hostile interpersonal disputes make unguided deception exercises counterproductive.

## Materials and tools

- 1 team handout per group (card stock recommended) containing the twelve trust factors
- 1 individual handout per participant (identical list, folded in half, none circled)
- 1 flipchart or whiteboard with markers
- 1 timer or whistle

## Before participants arrive

1. Print one team card for each table.
2. Print one individual handout per participant and fold each sheet in half so the text is concealed inside. Do not circle any factor on any sheet.
3. Arrange room seating for small tables of 3 to 6 people.

## Say this to open

Welcome. Trust strongly shapes how teams operate and deliver work together. In your small groups, you will explore twelve core factors that affect trust. Take your team card, discuss each item, and share what these factors look like in your everyday workplace.

## How to run it

### 1. Form groups and introduce task (3 minutes)

Divide participants into small teams of 3 to 6 people. Hand one team reference card to each table. Explain that they have 12 factors related to trust and will explore their practical meanings together.

### 2. Discuss trust factors (6 minutes)

Start a 6-minute discussion timer. Teams read through the twelve factors and share real workplace examples or personal interpretations of both positive and negative behaviors. Sound the whistle or call time when the clock runs out.

### 3. Introduce hidden agenda challenge (2 minutes)

Hand one folded individual handout to each person. Instruct everyone to keep their paper shielded and peek inside. Announce: 'Some of your sheets have one factor circled. Do not show your sheet to anyone. Over the next 5 minutes, your team must agree on the top 3 trust factors that have the highest impact on your work. If your sheet has a circled factor, your personal goal is to get that factor included into your team's top three.'

### 4. Select top three factors (5 minutes)

Start a 5-minute timer. Teams debate, advocate, and negotiate to reach consensus on their top three factors. Observe how participants interact, whether they probe for motives, and whether anyone discloses their sheet. Stop discussions when time expires.

### 5. Compare team selections (5 minutes)

Ask a spokesperson from each team to read their final top three factors. Record all selections on the flipchart or whiteboard. Note common themes, unanimous picks, or sharp divergences across groups.

### 6. Reveal the simulation and debrief (9 minutes)

Ask anyone with a circled item on their paper to stand or raise a hand. Pause as no hands go up. Announce that zero sheets had a circle. Lead the debrief using the provided prompt questions, focusing on the behavioral impact of suspicion.


## Debrief questions

- Did anyone show their paper to prove they had no circled item? If not, what prevented you from showing it?
- During the second debate, did you suspect anyone was secretly pushing a hidden assignment? What specific behaviors triggered that suspicion?
- How did the atmosphere and communication change between the first exploratory round and the second selection round?

**Finished output:** A flipchart record of the top three trust factors chosen by each group, followed by shared team commitments on transparency.

## Remote

Distribute the initial reference list via shared screen or chat link. For the prioritization round, send a private direct message to each person stating: 'Check your private assignment. (Neutral note: prioritize factors).' Use video breakout rooms of 3 to 5 people for discussions. Debrief in the main room using chat and open audio.

## Hybrid

Keep in-person attendees together at tables and assign remote participants to a dedicated virtual breakout room. Ensure remote members receive the individual PDF by private direct message at the same instant physical papers are passed out. Record all team top three selections on a digital document shared across both environments.

## Access and participation choices

- Provide large-print copies and digital text formats for participants using screen readers.
- Participants may opt to observe group deliberations silently or pass on speaking during the final debrief without giving a reason.

## If the session gets stuck

**A participant immediately shows their paper to the entire team, revealing no circled item.**

Let the group react naturally. During the debrief, highlight this moment as an example of proactive transparency disarming suspicion.

**A team becomes locked in an intense disagreement and fails to agree on three factors within five minutes.**

Call time at the five-minute mark. Instruct them to record whichever items had majority support, and use their deadlock as a case study during debriefing.


## Terms used here

- Hidden agenda: An unstated personal goal or priority that a participant pursues while pretending to work purely toward the collective group objective.

## Participant material: How To Increase the Trust Level in Teams

Six factors to avoid:
1. Hidden agenda
2. Internal competition
3. Tabooed discussion topics
4. Selfishness
5. Defensiveness
6. Paying lip service

Six factors to promote:
1. Openly sharing all information
2. Supporting other team members
3. Congruence among feeling, thoughts, words, and actions
4. Being inclusive and accessible
5. Being predictable, dependable, and accountable
6. Sharing credit

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Thiagi GameLetter (July 2006) as 'Team Trust', credited to Sivasailam Thiagarajan following discussions with Samuel van den Bergh.

Retained the exact 12-factor framework, the hidden agenda simulation mechanic, and the reflection sequence from Thiagi's July 2006 GameLetter. Adjusted timing to standard facilitator intervals totaling 30 minutes, structured specific facilitator scripts, and created explicit access and hybrid delivery instructions.

[The Thiagi Group](https://thiagi.net/archive/www/pfp/IE4H/july2006.html)

[The Thiagi Group](http://thiagi.net/archive/www/pfp/IE4H/july2006.html)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/tgl-july-2006/