Advice for leading an FLL team?

[GeeTwo]

I would try giving them some challenges that must be solved as a team. This sort of thing is actually part of one of the FLL judging sessions (core values?). A couple of years I kept time for one, and asked afterwards what the challenge was. The students had to get lego blocks from a basket at one end of the room to a basket at the other end. There were rules which required teamwork, e.g. team members could not move their feet while supporting or in direct or indirect contact with a lego, and once a lego hit the floor, it must stay there. IIRC, they could not touch the legos directly, but could do so only through plastic spoons. The bottom line was that the only way to consistently get legos across was some variation of the bucket brigade.

I was on a job interview panel recently, and one of the questions was something like "What makes a team work effectively?" During the breaks between the interviews, we decided that the correct answer was having a common purpose, effective communications, and trust in each other are essential. Respect and a method for resolving conflict are not far behind.