System for Developing Respect

By Aaron Byrd

Respect for fellow team members is a common challenge that teams face. In FLL, respect for each other is a central part of Gracious Professionalism and Coopertition. It is also a metric directly measured as part of a competition. This is another area where having a process or system to develop respect will be a key part of your success as a team as well as a key part to your team having fun.

I don't have all the answers or even a "best method" approach to developing respect. The team, though, has come up with a system that we are starting to use. We call it "The Respect Game." We employed a few ideas and concepts in the development of this method:

Focus on the positive, not the negative.

Respect is an interpersonal skill, meaning it involves more than one person. It can't be learned or practiced alone.

Use "Gamefication" to make a team game that involves a score and rules.

Just as a scoreboard in an athletic event helps everyone see where they stand and where you are headed, use a scoreboard for the game.

Use our recognition system to provide milestones and recognize group achievement.

For our respect game, here is how team members earn points:
Showing Simple Respect: 1 point

Actively Listen – “So what I understand you are saying is…”

Encouragement – “You can do this.” “ You’ve got it.”

Congratulate – “That was awesome.” “Great Job.” “Well done.”

Be Helpful – “How could I help you?”

Say Thank You – “I appreciate that you took your time to help me.”

Giving Social Money: 2 points

Significance – “You’re Awesome!”

Likeable – “I really like what you did.” “I like how you phrased that.”

Competent – “You did a great job.” “What you made works really well.”

We will go over the game at the beginning of each meeting and the coaches will be the "refs." The team came up with a goal of 50 points as our first milestone. As we just started, I'll let you know how it goes!