On November 28, we held our third Slido Elevate event, Learn From Leaders: The Secrets to Building Trust In Your Team, where we unveiled the secrets to growing trust within the workplace. 

Our amazing lineup of expert speakers included Thomas Reyto from Slack, Liz Selman from The School of Life, Victoria Lim from TomTom, and Slido’s Head of User Research, Neil Sharman. 

The panel delivered an insightful discussion on the changing role of leaders, the often-overlooked nature of trust and why it’s so important for building productive and happy teams. 

All leaders themselves, our speakers opened up about the essential qualities of accessibility and vulnerability for successful leadership.

Watch our recordings below to explore the key takeaways of the event, as well as the leadership tips shared by our speakers. You can download the presented slides here.

Here are some of the key learnings: 

Neil Sharman, Head of User Research at Slido, shared five key takeaways in his keynote on ‘high trust cultures’: 

• Leaders who have experienced low trust possess a unique superpower.
• Cultures of fear, cynicism, and burnout are the antithesis of trust cultures.
• Trust is sometimes dismissed as 'too soft,' leading to its oversight.
• Trust dynamics are set at the top and trickle down, making middle managers pivotal in living these values.
• Building trust can start with effective meetings and live Q&A sessions.

You can watch Neil’s keynote here:

If you’d like to learn more about our research on what senior leaders say about building trust and a great workplace culture, download our ebook, ‘Great Meetings, Great Cultures’ here.

In our panel discussion on trust in the workplace we learned the following: 

• Liz highlighted the modern work experience, where employees seek purpose, meaning, and happiness, making trust a crucial factor.
• Vicky emphasized the evolving role of leaders - with the pandemic as a catalyst, calling for increased accessibility and a more human approach.
• Thomas underscored the positive impact of trust on productivity. Slack’s latest research shows that employees that feel trusted are: 30% more likely to put in more effort, 2x more focused, and have a 4x increased sense of belonging.  
• Vicki stressed listening and honesty as keys to breaking the chain of mistrust.
• Liz introduced the concept of 'humble inquiry' for building empathy.
• Thomas advocated for authenticity and vulnerability as leadership superpowers. 
• When asked for tools and strategies for the hybrid workplace, all panelists agreed on transparent communication, using tools (like Slido), personal availability, team retreats, and intentional relationship-building efforts.

You can watch the recording of our panel discussion here:

The School of Life has also provided a booklet on ‘How to Build a Workplace Culture That Promotes Trust’ with three exercises for you to try. You can download it here.

The event concluded with a Slido masterclass, showing participants: 

• How to build trust in meetings
• Best practices for using polls and Q&A
• How to set up Slido from scratch

You can download the slides from the masterclass here or at the end of this article. And watch the recording here:

The event provided a unique opportunity to learn from diverse perspectives, roles, and seniority levels (of speakers and attendees) about the benefits, challenges, and strategies for building trust.

We want to say thank you to our speakers and participants for contributing.