In DI, there are certain expectations of team members, parents, and Team Managers.

Expectations for Students:

1. Your Team Manager has VOLUNTEERED to work with your team.  He/She has had to give up some other activities in order to work with your team. Never forget that.
2. Behave as you would in school: Regardless of whether your meetings are held at school or in someone’s home, behavior that is inappropriate at school is inappropriate at DI meetings. Your Team Manager may send you home from your meeting if you are interfering with the group’s progress.
3. In DI, all ideas are worth hearing.  Rude remarks about the ideas of others will not be tolerated.
4. Being on a team means being responsible for your share of the tasks.  If you volunteer to do something, follow through.
5. It’s fun to work on your DI Team Challenge solution, but your schoolwork needs to come first. Make sure that spending time on DI is not keeping you from doing your homework.

Expectations for Parents:

1. Please be considerate of the Team Manager’s time.  Be prompt when dropping off or picking up at meetings.
2. Do not schedule appointments for your child during the time usually reserved for the team’s regular meeting. At DI meetings, every team member is needed.
3. Expenses incurred by the team in creating its solution must be shared by team members. Some Team Managers are uncomfortable about asking for money, so make it a point to ask from time to time. Materials should not cost much, but the TM should not have to pay for everything.
4. Please don’t say:  “I wish I could help you, but I work.” We are all busy people. We all work full time, it’s just that some of us are not paid for it!  Helping the team by being a go-fer, assisting the TM, or providing a snack can be very inconvenient, but it’s a part of the package. Please try to say YES when the Team Manager asks for something.
5. If you have any concerns about your child, the team’s progress, or the Team Manager, communicate with the appropriate party. Don’t wait for a small problem to become a big one. Tell the TM or the DI Coordinator.

Expectations for Team Managers:

1. TMs need to give team members and their parents monthly meeting calendars so that everyone knows when and where meetings will be held.
2. TMs should work hard to make sure that every team member has a chance to contribute his or her unique skills and talents to the solution of the Challenge.  In all teams there are members who are outgoing and assertive, and members who are quiet and less likely to volunteer ideas – Team Managers should make sure that all members of a team feel comfortable sharing ideas and expertise.
3. TMs must have respect for the integrity of the team’s solution. “No Interference” means just that. The Team Manager should never allow his/her ideas to enter into the team’s solution.
4. TMs MAY NOT have competitive goals for the team. A TM’s role in Destination Imagination is to oversee the process, to help the team organize itself  to meet its own goals. Most teams in your Affiliate will not be going to Global Finals. Encouraging your team to put forth their best effort is different from pushing the team to win. Over-emphasizing “winning” rather than “best effort” may result in the team feeling a sense of failure at anything less than First Place. Team Managers need to remember that a) The emphasis should be on the PROCESS of solving the Challenge, not the Presentation, and b) Above all else, DI is supposed to be FUN!

© Destination ImagiNation, Inc. 2004