Team Bonding

[NWChen]

Mostly targeted at the student part of the team. To what extent would you say your team is a family, i.e. has team members who:

• are inclusive and friendly to all members
• are comfortable around each other
• possibly interact as close friends outside of robotics?

How important is that quality to the success of your team?

[woudie]

My team is like a giant family, we all work together like a well oiled machine, it helps us a lot since we tend not to fight with one another, and are supportive of one another insade and outside of robotics. That factor alone tripled our teams efficiency. At some point one of senior member went on a huge rant about how he see's our team as a family , and how close we have all become thanks to robotics

[Libby K]

I get that you're asking students to talk about how much of their team has that feeling, but I think it's important to note that a lot of that culture needs to come from the mentors. It's our job to make sure everyone is included, to maintain traditions, etc.

1923 is absolutely a family. Even with 100+ kids, we find time to have non-robot time, both with the entire team and in smaller subteam groups during build season. One of our silly traditions? It's always, always, always someone's birthday when we go out to dinner as a team. Whose? That's the mystery.

We're proud to be a family like that. We spend so many hours together that it's hard not to get that close. Mentors and students are there for each other not just for robotics. Our students help each other with their Eagle Scout projects, and with their individual goals at school or in their own lives. Our alumni stay connected to the team and to each other. Our mentors help both current students and alumni with college applications, letters of rec, or just general life advice.

We actively work at having a team culture where everyone is encouraged to be close. It takes a lot of effort with more students, but it's well worth it for the opportunities it provides us all.

[Jon Stratis]

I'd say our team is pretty close, overall. One thing that really sticks out for me was the first Monday/Tuesday of build least year. We had snow days, so kids were out of school and the team wasn't allowed to meet... yet two of our students spent >30 hours together over those two days talking robotics and designing our robot, all without anyone asking them to!

[John Retkowski]

I think of our team as one big (sometimes crazy hectic and dysfunctional ) family. There are only 8 students on the team this year and 13 last year, so we're all very close. I can remember times in build season where we've all really come together, and it's amazing what we've accomplished.

[TogetherSword8]

Our team of about 20 people has a large bonding group. We will often hang out outside of robotics, and there are some really close friendships. Our drivers from this past year (one of whom was me ) were often yelled at for not communicating during a match, when we knew each other so well we communicate sentences in 2 or 3 words, and it allowed us to be able to run the robot as 2 people smoother than if one person was driving our robot. There are a few other friendships like this, and the best part is it happens across class lines, so it not only benefits the people on the team to know someone to talk to that has taken a class, experienced something, etc. But it also benefits the school as a whole.

[g_sawchuk]

I would say that our team is most certainly an extremely close knit family. Although it may be awkward at the start of the season we always manage to end up extremely close to each other by the end of the year. Team bonding tends to take place most for our team during our preseason challenge and the annual camp trip our team goes on.

[Gutsyten42]

Absolutely. Our team has always been like a family. With our team not being linked to a school we are constantly coming up with team building ideas(ie. Next weekend we're going camping as a team). Plus when the end of the year comes there is always one time were we all get together for a student's graduation party.

[NWChen]

Originally Posted by Libby K

I get that you're asking students to talk about how much of their team has that feeling, but I think it's important to note that a lot of that culture needs to come from the mentors. It's our job to make sure everyone is included, to maintain traditions, etc.

That's absolutely true. Thanks to everyone who answered, it's interesting to see what 6 weeks of effectively constant stress (offseason aside) does to a group of people.

[s1900ahon]

Libby couldn't be more right when indicating that the cultural tone is set by a team's teachers/coaches/mentors. The team I mentor is very fortunate to have a teacher/coach (Coach Norm) who combines his past team building experience from student athletics and mentor-brought business culture. We strive to increase the openness of the team, build mutual trust, and embrace (rather than avoid) conflict. Our T/C/Ms strive to serve as the behavioral template for the students to follow and embrace. If the T/C/Ms bring baggage, that is what the students learn.

I have no idea of the OP's background, but when it comes to team culture, organizational behaviors, and leadership qualities, I've almost never failed when recommending that T/C/Ms read the following:

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni
and
The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive: A Leadership Fable

The beauty of Lencioni's style is the books aren't presented in a dry, boring manner like some business books. Lencioni creates a fable motif around which his story's characters explore the ideas he presents. Common reactions, objections, and misunderstandings are handled in the fable's storyline. Moreover, they're very quick to read. I've plowed through one of his books in as little as 3 hours, and I read slowly. Perfect for the last couple of weeks before school starts!

I'd read both (and more), but recommend reading Four Obsessions first for the lead coach/mentor/teacher of a team. I'd have all mentors read Five Dysfunctions.
I believe teams bond much closer when mutual trust is increased as the students no longer fear the natural conflict they will experience with each other during a FIRST season and beyond. The example our T/C/Ms, particularly at the start of a season, sets the tone for the team. When you can get the students to understand that open (and respectful) disagreement with each other is a necessary thing to advance the team, and they have an example showing them how it is done, their level of interaction and communications increases.