What does a team coach do?
- Facilitate a team without doing the work for the team. Stand back and watch while the team members make all the decisions regarding the problem solution.
- Interact with the team to improve the way the team identifies and solves problems.
- Make sure all team members are involved in the process of issue identification, idea generation, solution finding and solution presentation.
- Provide the impetus for the team to develop strategies, generate ideas, evaluate options or reach a decision. This is done in brainstorming sessions and the like.
- Encourage the team members to produce fresh ideas, to think “out-of-the-box,” to work cooperatively together, and to better communication among themselves.
- Provide a safe environment with no criticism of team members as they develop their solution.
- Stay well informed of all problem rules and program guidelines and pass the information on to the team members.
- Develop a timeline working backwards from the competition date, including holidays and school breaks, and make sure the team sticks to the timeline.