Our team functions with one captain (who fits a more managerial position) and many subteams with leaders: Mechanical, Electrical, Programming, CAD, Machining, Media, Business, Safety, Scouting, and Chairman's. The reason we have so many subteams is because we have a relatively large team (IIRC, last year's registry went over 80 at one point). The subteam leaders are the most skilled in their field and have executive power. They're picked with about the same requisites that ebrnc listed.
These leaders work very closely with eachother and form a microcosm of the team as a whole. It's not all equal though, some have more power than others. For instance, safety and scouting are often given to up-and-coming rookies and won't have as much influence on the team simply because they lack the experience. In a similar vein, the technical subteam leaders will have more influence on the robot than media, business, or chairman's will. Because they specialize in their field, it is difficult to function at peak ability when they're not in the lab. Because of this, you may want to enforce a stricter schedule if possible (or pick subteam leaders who you know will be there almost every meeting).
Team organization is important, of course. But - if I may digress a little - one thing that I think should be emphasized more is team dynamic. The relationship between captains, subteam leaders, and other team members should be (at least roughly) ironed out before the season starts. How should you handle inter-subteam discrepancies? What should trigger an impeachment of power? Under who's jurisdiction should Issue 'A' fall under? On our team, there is democratic power among the subteam leaders during arguments while the captain acts as a mediator. The mentors have pseudo-oligarchic/autocratic power if disputes get out of hand (There's more to it, but I'll cut it short for the sake of brevity). Because everyone has agreed on this system beforehand, we can go through any arguments as smoothly as possible. Of course, the way a team should behave is more of a case-by-case decision, and the way our team best functions may not apply at all to how your team will best function.
Sorry for the little tangent; but, I believe the two topics go quite hand-in-hand. No one wants drama to get in the way of the robot, but it
will likely come up and it
will be disruptive. Team dynamic will no doubt evolve during the season as well, but having some understanding of how to interact will make things run much smoother. If you prepare for both, then you'll have a swell season.
Good luck!
