First Meetings

Next Steps  

Shorty after the first coach training we will be sending out the full problem text, the Southlake Carroll Odyssey of the Mind Bylaws and a coaches code of conduct/contract.Name 

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Please read over the coaches code of conduct and problem select guidelines in the bylaws.   You will be required to sign the coaches code of conduct/contract to submit your problems.   Your team has a week to return all the forms back to the board.  Upon return of all forms, problems will be assigned based upon the following:

• No Problem conflicts within the Membership

• Availability of Problem within Membership

• Coach input

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The Coaches' Handbook. This is good reference guide that helps beginner and experienced coaches go through the process of coaching a team. It has been compiled from several Odyssey State organizations. Feedback is welcome!

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Parents Guidelines: A list of Do’s and Don’ts to share with team parents.

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Effective Coaching tactics. This contains tips on teaching teamwork, brainstorming, and asking questions

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Style and Paperwork: Summary of forms that should be filled for tournament. A more detailed presentation will be prepared around January with specifics of the upcoming tournament procedures.

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Coaching Tips and Tricks

• Set up a volunteer page to get parents to sign up for snacks.  (IE. Sign up genius, PlanHero)

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Team Building 

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Here are a couple of team building activities:

• Lighthouse
  Pick a team member to become a lighthouse and one to be a ship. The rest of the team members are rocks. Blindfold the ship. In the boundary area (ocean), have the rocks set in a spot and freeze. Sand the lighthouse at one end of the ocean and the ship at the other end. Have the lighthouse guide the ship, by giving verbal directions through the rock hazards to safety. Make sure the rocks spot the ship in case of it sinking on the rocks.

• Standing Twister or Knots
  Put the group in a huddle. Each person extends his or her right hand and grabs the hand of another person in the huddle. Each person then extends his or her left hand and grabs a different person’s hand. No two people should be holding the same hand. The object is to have the group untangle themselves slowly without ever letting go of hands. Some people will have to step over other people; some will go under people; some will get twisted and have to untwist and turn to unravel themselves. — It is important for your team to both work together and to laugh together. We hope your group is working well and that they – and you -are having fun.

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Facilitating Teams

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Effective Team Process

An effective team process is one that leverages the strengths of the individual members into a results the individuals would not have achieved individually. This is sometimes referred to as synergy, where the results of the whole (the team) is greater than the sum of its parts (individual members). The key is to get participation from every member, keep them focused on the goal, and guide them by way of a formula or process, but not by providing actual content. We can accomplish this by using various techniques that are easily learned and can be readily applied.

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3 Basic Process Techniques

There are many process techniques to facilitate teams, but the following 3 basic techniques are recommended for those who are building facilitation skills. These techniques can be used in the phases a team goes through in its normal progress toward reaching solutions or determining actions. In the use of these techniques it is recommended that ‘public recording’ be used so that the team can see their ideas and progress toward their goal. Most commonly, this is achieved through the use of a whiteboard or ‘flipcharts’ and colored markers.

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Brainstorming

The most straightforward technique for gathering ideas is brainstorming. The idea is to collect as many ideas as possible in a short period of time. You can go around the group in ’round robin’ fashion to make sure everyone participates evenly. Capturing the ideas and posting them on flip charts on the wall helps the group see the progress they are making. There is one rule in brainstorming: every idea is a good idea. Simply write them all down without discussion and in a few minutes you can have 20 or 30 good ideas. Stop when the group runs out of steam or you sense that the quality of the ideas is waning.

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Facilitated Discussion

After gathering these ideas, it is a good idea to try to eliminate duplicate ideas, combine ideas that are related, and trim off ideas that might not move the team toward its goal. You can do this by explaining this objective to the team and then simply guide them through a discussion of the ideas. This discussion might even lead to adding a few new ideas to the list. Ask questions about the ideas to stimulate the group. For example:

• Does everyone understand this idea the way it is written?

• How does this idea help us solve our problem?

• Is this idea one that we can combine with something else on our list?

• Can we expand on this idea to make it better?

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Multi-voting

This technique is most effective when you have a large list of ideas that you need to boil down to 5 or 10. With your ideas posted on the walls, you simply give everyone a certain number of ‘votes’. Each team member gets 10 post-it notes which they can use to ‘vote’ for the ideas they like best. After everyone has voted, the votes are tabulated and the ideas with the highest number of votes are the ones the team will consider as its final solution. If one solution is clearly the ‘favorite’ you can stop right there, or you can do another round of voting to ‘pick’ the final answer. You may want to have an in-depth discussion about the ideas prior to the ‘final’ round. Sometimes the top 2 vote getters can be combined to make an even better solution.