Trust is a necessary component of a highly functional team. When the shit hits the fan, that trust enables teammates to trust each other in the most difficult of situations. However, building trust requires people to be familiar with one another on more than just the surface, polite-society level. The more they know about each other, the more empathy they'll have for one another and the more trust there will be.
All of that sounds pretty straightforward, but it's easily and often overlooked in the name of expediency and considered a nice-to-have, but not essential. While it's true that teams can overcome a lack of personal connection through other means, Empowering your people to get to know each other can go a long way towards building a performing team.
In all the work we do with our clients on their marketing and communications, we often spend what seems an inordinate amount of time talking about their culture, people and how they need to care for all their stakeholders equally (clients, employees, suppliers and investors are the usually the main ones). We do so because we believe that a company with a solid culture that enables people to feel fulfilled in their dealings with the company, is directly correlated to the company's success. By success I mean financial, but also cultural, where the employees are happy to go to work, the customers are given an outstanding experience and the suppliers are being treated fairly, with respect and paid on time.
In times where working from home is the norm and the office is all but empty, creating such a culture is even more challenging, as there is very little face to face interaction. It's hard enough in normal times.
This is where timelining comes in. It's a nifty little exercise designed to get a team to know each other in the span of a few hours. If you want to build trust within your team (of any kind, work or otherwise), I highly recommend it. Book half a day off, take out your sharpies and have at it. Bonus points if you figure out how to do this on Zoom.