What about setting challenges to your teams to reinforce their cohesion? Research in neuroscience shows that the impact is real. A team at the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies has been working for years on this key question: what brings people to trust each other? It started by showing that trust is linked to the production of oxytocin: this hormone encourages individuals to interact and to rely on each other. It then focused on the managerial behaviors that foster the production of oxytocin. Unsurprisingly, it pointed out the fact of acknowledging the quality of the staff and leaving them margins of maneuver, but also the fact of regularly proposing “micro challenges” to the teams. How does it work? When we assign a team a difficult yet reachable objective, the moderate stress of the task releases neurochemical substances—notably the famous oxytocin—, but also adrenocorticotropin. These intensify concentration, reinforce social bonds and help people better coordinate their actions. Beware however: this approach only works if the objectives seem realistic and have a concrete aim. An excellent lever to create a culture that combines collective effectiveness and trust.

Source: The Neuroscience of Trust, Paul J. Zak, Harvard Business Review, January-February 2017.