Interactive assessment
Team Trust Builder
Assess the quality and depth of trust in your team across three dimensions: vulnerability-based openness, reliability and integrity, and collective psychological safety.
Trust is not a feeling, it is a set of observable behaviours that can be measured, developed, and strengthened. Research from team effectiveness, vulnerability studies, and psychological safety science each identify different but complementary dimensions of team trust. This assessment integrates all three perspectives, giving you a multi-dimensional picture of trust in your team and identifying the specific behaviours that most need development.
- Questions or items
- 15 questions or items
- Completion time
- Around 8 minutes
- Dimensions
- Vulnerability-Based Trust, Reliability & Integrity, Collective Psychological Safety
- What you receive
- Personalised results with result bands, section scores and development guidance.
What it covers
- Vulnerability-Based Trust
- Reliability & Integrity
- Collective Psychological Safety
Rate each statement from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree) based on how your team actually operates. For the most useful results, have all team members complete it independently and compare results.
Results: Personalised results with result bands, section scores and development guidance.
How this interactive diagnostic works
Read what it covers here first. Nothing is saved or sent until you continue. Your result is calculated once every required item is answered.
If it asks for your first name and work email, you enter them in the diagnostic itself. This page sends nothing.
Statements in this diagnostic
Statements are grouped by section. Answer each one for the situation named in the instructions, using the scale shown.
Vulnerability-Based Trust
The degree to which team members feel safe showing up authentically, admitting mistakes, acknowledging uncertainty, and asking for help without fear.
- Team members openly admit when they have made a mistake or don't know something
- Asking for help or support is seen as a strength in our team, not a sign of incompetence
- People bring their genuine concerns and uncertainties to the team rather than performing confidence they don't feel
- We have real conversations about what is hard, not just updates on what is going well
- Team members can be authentic and appropriately vulnerable without fear of being judged or undermined
Reliability & Integrity
Whether team members consistently do what they say they will do, and whether they behave with consistency and honesty (Brown, 2018: BRAVING inventory).
- Team members follow through on what they commit to, reliably and consistently
- When someone can't deliver what was agreed, they say so early, not at the last minute
- Team members act with integrity, their behaviour in private is consistent with how they present themselves publicly
- We hold each other to our commitments in a way that is direct but respectful
- Confidences are respected in our team, what is shared in confidence stays in confidence
Collective Psychological Safety
The extent to which the team environment supports speaking up, disagreeing, challenging ideas, and taking interpersonal risks (Edmondson, 1999).
- Team members feel safe voicing concerns, disagreements, or unpopular views without fear of negative consequences
- When someone challenges an idea or decision, it is treated with respect, not dismissed or punished
- Mistakes are treated as learning opportunities rather than as failures to be blamed
- Everyone's voice is valued in our team, not just the most senior or most confident
- The team can have difficult conversations without people withdrawing, becoming defensive, or damaging relationships
How the result is read
Your answers are totalled for each section and overall. Each total falls into one of the bands below.
- Low Trust, 15 to 33: Trust is significantly underdeveloped in your team, across one or more of the three dimensions. Without trust as a foundation, no other team capability can fully develop. Start with the lowest-scoring dimension and use structured activities to build the specific behaviours that will shift it.
- Developing Trust, 34 to 51: Trust exists in some areas but is fragile or inconsistent. There are likely one or two specific dynamics that are limiting the overall trust level. Use your lowest-scoring dimension to identify the most targeted intervention.
- Good Trust, 52 to 65: A good foundation of trust that supports collaboration and performance. The opportunity is to move from good to deep trust, the kind that allows the team to navigate real challenge, conflict, and failure together without losing cohesion.
- Deep Trust, 66 to 75: Deep, multi-dimensional trust, a genuine competitive advantage for your team. This level of trust enables exceptional performance, accelerates learning, and makes your team highly resilient to pressure and change.
Sources named in this diagnostic
- Brown, B. (2018) Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. New York: Random House.
- Edmondson, A.C. (1999) Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), pp. 350-383.
- Lencioni, P. (2002) The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
- Zak, P.J. (2017) The neuroscience of trust. Harvard Business Review, 95(1), pp. 84-90.
Where to take the next step
Our team programmes build genuine trust, accountability and sustained high performance.
Explore Team Effectiveness WorkshopsFrequently asked questions
What does the Team Trust Builder measure?
Trust is not a feeling, it is a set of observable behaviours that can be measured, developed, and strengthened. Research from team effectiveness, vulnerability studies, and psychological safety science each identify different but complementary dimensions of team trust. This assessment integrates all three perspectives, giving you a multi-dimensional picture of trust in your team and identifying the specific behaviours that most need development.
How many questions are in the Team Trust Builder?
It contains 15 questions grouped into 3 dimensions: Vulnerability-Based Trust, Reliability & Integrity, Collective Psychological Safety.
How is the Team Trust Builder scored?
Responses are totalled within each section and across the diagnostic, and each total falls into a result band.
What happens after I complete the Team Trust Builder?
Once the required items are answered, you enter your first name and email to see your results: an overall interpretation, section scores and development guidance.