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<-individual_mentoring|Mentoring Individuals^Coach Expectations^Mentoring in Product Development->
=====Mentoring in Team Dynamic=====
Students will have some experience working on teams.  Much of that experience
will have been negative. Consequently, team members may need your expert advice on how to
best organize and run the team. This section will discuss how to set up your team and help the team run efficiently

**//Team-building Activity//**

During the month of September,  every coach should plan and carry out an activity that will help build team unity.  It's often good to invite spouses or significant others as well.  Some coaches have a barbecue at their house.  Others take the team to participate in a project related activity.  In any case, the activity should be fun
for you and your team members and help you all get to know one another better.

The coach should pay for the activity and then Capstone will reimburse the coach for up to $10 per team member toward this team-building activity. Coaches must follow the process described below and get their receipts to the Capstone staff within 5 days after
the event.  If you were unable to hold the activity by October 1, contact the Capstone office to work out an adjusted plan.

Follow the steps below to be reimbursed for the allowable amount:

  - Complete an online Capstone Reimbursement Request (NOT a Capstone Order Request) by clicking “New Reimbursement” at [[https://byucapstone.byu.edu/dashboard|byucapstone.byu.edu]].
  - Submit the original receipt to the Capstone office as soon as possible, no later than 5 days after the purchase.
  - Once the Capstone office has processed the reimbursement, you will receive an email from BYU’s financial system, Chrome River, indicating the need for you to approve your reimbursement. To accurately complete the approval process, go to [[https://app.ca1.chromeriver.com/login/sso/saml?CompanyID=byu.edu|Chrome River]] (you may also go to my.byu.edu > Campus Links > Work Links > Chrome River).
  - In Chrome River, go to approvals needed and select the expense report corresponding to your reimbursement.  Click on Approved. {{  wiki:coach_reimbursements_1.png?650  }}
  - Click approve again to confirm approval. Ensure that the report indicates it has been successfully approved. {{  wiki:coach_reimbursements_2.png?650  }}

**//Choosing a team leader//**

The right team leader can make a huge difference on the team.  Working with the team,
you should select a team leader.

There are many ways to select a team leader.  You can have the team vote.  You can have
each member of the team lead for a week, then select a leader.  You can ask somebody to
be a provisional leader, then make a permanent selection later.  You can plan on rotating
team leaders every month or so.  Or you may have other ideas.

Regardless of the specific methods you use, make sure your team has a leader.  A
team without a defined leader will struggle to make progress.
<html><div class="capnote">
NOTE: Do not take over as the team leader.
</div></html>

**//Team meetings//**

Help the team learn to run effective team meetings.  The team is very likely used to
having meetings, but their meetings may not be particularly effective.  They may
also confuse having meetings with doing work.  They may wish to meet every day, which
is a recipe for greatly slowing down progress.

Help the team to understand that meetings should have a purpose and an agenda.  They
should have assignments.  Reports on previous assignments should be given. The
reports should preferably be in writing, so they can be passed on to others outside
of the team.

Teams that make effective use of meeting time are more successful.

**//Dealing with conflict//**

One of the challenges of BYU culture is that there is a significant feeling that it is
always necessary to be nice, and that we must avoid disagreement because contention is
of the devil.  This can lead to students being very uncomfortable with normal and desirable
team processes. It is healthy for teams to have some conflict because different people have different, yet valuable opinions. This is because having a range of different opinions increases
the likelihood that the best solution will be found.

However, it is important that the differences of opinion not degenerate into contention.
The focus needs to remain on what is right, rather than who is right.  People with
different opinions need to listen to one another and be open to change.

Help your team understand that differences of opinion are healthy, and that dealing well
with them can strengthen both the team and the project. Furthermore, the ability
to deal well with conflict is a valuable personal and professional skill to develop.

**//Tuckman Stages of team performance//**

Teams have been demonstrated to go through four stages: Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing. See [[..:project-wiki:tools:tuckman_team_stages|Tuckman Team Stages]] to know how to guide your team through this process.
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