Team Attributes
Some robotics clubs are school-based, others encompass entire communities. Either way, they need to have structure, which can vary depending on the support needed:
Structure
A team constitution is important for defining roles within student leadership, justifying a member’s team eligibility, and organizing the team. It solidifies a team’s status as an official club, and members should take it seriously. An example of our constitution can be found here:
Team constitution
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Mentors/Advisors are one of the most essential parts of the team, giving guidance to members and leading the team towards success. How many mentors/advisors a team has differs based on but isn’t limited to:
Covering multiple knowledge bases
Number of members
Time availability
See here for more information
https://www.firstinspires.org/community/teams/coaches-and-mentors -
A student-led leadership team is important for organizing tasks and ensuring the team flows smoothly.
Roles can range from Team Managers, Control System Leads, Media Leads, and more. Allocate as many roles as you feel are necessary to make a team successful and sustainable.
Our team has a Team Manager, Logistics Manager, Co-Manufacturing Leads, Programming Lead, Multimedia Lead, and Public Relations Lead.
See here for more information
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dh6-zut92trLh6JUTsGQXXg8dIaDjY7sbKKZzUvJ2Hg/edit?usp=sharing
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A team wouldn’t be functional without members to back it up:
Ensuring that members feel accepted and part of the team is paramount. Assign tasks that contribute to their growth as a member and not simply busy work.
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Team bonding strengthens collaboration by building trust, improving communication, and helping members understand each other’s strengths and working styles, making teamwork more efficient.
Ideas
Weekly meals (potlucks, themed dinners)
Quick check-ins & casual breaks
Group meals & activities at competitions
Traditions (banquet, awards, celebrations)
Game nights & outdoor activities
Skill-sharing & mentorship
Volunteering & outreach
Ice breakers (click link below for ideas)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P4OjhzceDcKH2DbWKqP4BSU-Xd2iiZvuSDSWZsbFoVs/edit?usp=sharing
Being able to communicate clearly as a team is essential. Whether you’re coordinating shop times, assigning tasks, or simply checking where people are, a reliable place to share updates keeps work moving, prevents confusion, and builds accountability.
Communication
Keeping track of members helps keep the team sustainable and engaged. Our team holds two regular meeting types: general membership meetings and leadership meetings.
Team Meetings
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General Memberships are held every other week, catching members up with recent events and upcoming tasks for each subteam. Meetings like this are especially important during build season and help our team stay consistent.
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We hold leadership meetings every week, typically Monday when most of the leadership is available.
Agenda should include planning upcoming events, making important financial decisions, and planning towards a team’s success.
We assign one of the members as note-takers for these meetings, listing down any important developments along the way.
The button below shows how we generally approach these meetings.
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Slack is our team’s hub for organized communication. It uses channels for projects, subsystems, and events, integrates with tools like Google Drive and Zoom, and archives searchable conversations. Threading keeps discussions tidy and relevant information easy to find.
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Remind is a school-focused communication platform that connects teachers, students, and parents without sharing personal phone numbers. It supports real-time messages, announcements, file sharing, and translation into 90+ languages. School-specific features include teacher "office hours" and uneditable message logs for safety and documentation.
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GroupMe is a Microsoft-owned mobile messaging app for group texting without social media. It creates private chat rooms joined via phone number and supports SMS for non-smartphone users. Popular with clubs, families, and campus groups, it consolidates photos, videos, and events in one thread and includes a message "Like" feature plus custom emojis and GIF.
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Discord is a versatile communication platform that organizes communities into "servers," which are further divided into specific text and voice channels. It has evolved into a massive hub for all kinds of hobbyist groups, study circles, and professional communities. The app's standout feature is its high-quality voice and video chat, which allows users to "drop in" to a room to talk without having to start a formal call.
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Google Classroom is a platform that you can use to organize your team into specific subteams to streamline project management. By using the "Assign to" feature, you can target tasks to these predefined groups rather than the entire class, ensuring each subteam sees only the work relevant to them.
Additional Sections to Explore