Intentionally cultivating a supportive team environment has a huge impact on both your students' experiences and your team's outcomes over the course of a season. A positive team culture creates the conditions necessary for a team to work together successfully, so they can grow and thrive individually, and as a team. This article explains strategies for cultivating a positive team culture for new and experienced teams alike.
Getting the Season Started
Making sure that each member of your team feels welcome and valued for who they are from the very first team meeting is essential for laying the groundwork for a fantastic season. At the beginning of a season, the most important aspects of creating a positive team culture are helping students to be comfortable working together, and setting expectations for growth.
Try incorporating some of the following ideas at the outset of your season:
- Start team meetings off with an icebreaker. Icebreaker activities can be fun ways to help students get to know each other gradually. Students must feel safe in their environments before they are willing to share ideas and opinions. Activities like "Would you Rather?" questions, or "Two Truths and a Lie" are low-stakes choices that help students learn about each other without too much risk. Once students know each other a little better, you can incorporate team building activities, such as scavenger hunts. Take some time to search for activities that suit your particular group of students!
- Facilitate student creation of team rules. Devote time at the beginning of the season for students to define their own team rules and guidelines. When everyone agrees on how to interact with one another, students will collaborate better, saving time in the long run. And, fewer adult interventions will be needed from you! Students can follow the process outlined in the video in Session 1 of the Competition 101 STEM Lab.
- Prioritize goal setting. Encourage students to set achievable goals for the season. While winning the Excellence Award at a high profile event or qualifying for the VEX World Championships are admirable long term goals, setting a goal that may be impossible to reach can sap the motivation of a new or inexperienced team. Guide students to choose goals they can attain, such as scoring a certain number of points in a competition. Once that goal is achieved, students can always set a new incremental goal and continue to move forward in a positive direction.
Throughout the Season
A growth mindset is the belief that you can get better at something through practice, effort, and learning from mistakes. This way of looking at learning is essential for a robotics team to do the iterative work needed on robot design, coding, and strategy development. However, students do not always come by a growth mindset naturally. Fortunately, there are many ways you can encourage students to build one over time by:
- Communicate that failures are opportunities to learn. When a strategy doesn't pay off as planned, or a modification to a robot doesn't yield the expected results, guide students to focus on what they can learn from the experience. Let them know that what they may be seeing as a setback is actually information they can use to make their robot, code or strategy stronger.
- Place emphasis on the process of learning, rather than the product. Call out student effort and persistence, and point out examples of how their persistence leads to growth. Avoid focusing solely on winning, as that can lead to a discouraged and frustrated team.
- Celebrate small victories. Treat incremental progress as a positive step to be celebrated. For example, when students meet one of the goals they set for the season, whether or not that goal is related to winning, take a minute to acknowledge and celebrate that achievement.
- Encourage flexible problem solving. Modeling good problem solving skills for students shows them how to stay calm, think through challenges step by step, and learn from mistakes to find better solutions.
After the Season
When the season is over, there is still room for continuing to strengthen your team's positive culture. Reflecting on the season together is an important way to help students internalize their learned experiences appreciate one another's contributions, and begin planning for the next season! Hear are some ways to wrap up the season on a positive note:
- Reflect together as a team. Make time for students to look back on the season and reflect on what went well, and what they would do differently next time. A procedure for this reflection session, as well as discussion prompts are included in Session 8 of the Competition 101 STEM Lab.
- Celebrate progress and teamwork. End the season with a celebration that highlights team achievements, big and small. You might hand out fun awards (like “Best Debugger” or “Most Creative Design”), share a slideshow of memorable moments, or invite families to a team showcase. Consider letting the students plan the celebration that works best for them. Recognizing student effort reinforces a sense of pride and belonging, and will set them up for a positive start to the next season as well.
- Look ahead together. If students are returning next season, give them a chance to share their hopes for the next year. What skills do they want to build? What goals do they want to set as a team? Keeping the momentum going helps students stay engaged and motivated to return.
Creating a positive team culture requires planning ahead, and being present and engaged in the process throughout the season. This effort will pay huge dividends in students' confidence and teamwork. When students feel respected, supported and empowered to learn, your team will be more resilient, collaborative and successful, both on and off the field.