[MissInformation]

I think there are too many teams that are run differently from one another yet are still truly teams for there to be just one way for a team to bond. Team 116 is mostly a democracy, we vote as a team on most things, from the robot design to the team button to which competitions we attend. Some suggestions people make are silly and get laughs, but all joking aside, everyone's opinion is considered valid.

Which brings up humor. Never underestimate the power of humor, sometimes you need to laugh, even if it's at yourself, and a team that learns when to take things seriously and when to laugh (and sometimes its both at the same time) can remain strong when times get rough.

Which brings up the times that get rough. I truly believe overcoming obstacles together really builds a strong team. All FIRST teams start off with the same "obstacle": how to build a robot in six weeks. As far as obstacles go, that six week time limit is a doozy! And then you throw in other obstacles such as snow days and lost meetings, and back-ordered parts, and changes to designs, and computers breaking down three days before animation is due, and any other bad luck, bad planning kind of a thing that can happen and the whole thing gets kind of chaotic. Getting past the chaos rather than giving up will bond a team and make them proud of themselves.

And the last thing I'm going to mention is attitude. The attitude team leaders set will make or break a team. Not to blame adults entirely, but I think the adults on the team, the mentors, the teachers, the engineers, etc. have the biggest impact on the team attitude, mainly because they are most often recognized as the "authority" figures. If you have a teacher who gets frustrated at every little set back you have students who will do the same. If a mentor throws up his/her hands and says "It's not working, I quit!" you have students who will do the same. If you have an engineer who says "It's my way or no way" you have students who will do the same. If instead they say "Well, it's a set back, but let's see what we can do..." and "It's not working, so let's try this instead..." and "Your way sounds good too, can we combine the ideas?" or other variations that are inclusive and positive you will have team members who are inclusive and positive (most of the time at least, there will always be moments of stress and frustration, after all, humans are emotional creatures).

And there you have it, my ramblings on what I think makes some teams more cohesive.

Heidi