Hello, everyone, despite how often I throw in my two cents in discussions around here, I rarely seem to start my own threads, but I've become more and more interested in this topic lately, and it seems to be a rarely-covered topic.
In
this thread, a little talk began about the varying standards for FIRST graduation cords/medals/sashes/etc that have been implemented by different teams. It has already proven to be an intriguing discussion, and has brought out some of the interesting differences in how FIRST teams are treated by their respective school administration. This topic has reminded me of one of the lingering issues that I've noticed on my team from time to time- the lack of official standards for well... things. So, I'd like to know,
How does your team set official standards for team branding, leadership, and conduct? Below, I've listed some assorted anecdotes that have lead me to the specifics of my question:
I was co-captain of my team this season. However, throughout the year, I wasn't entirely sure of that that title meant, outside of "leader." Eventually, I found my place as "co-captain," but the process of figuring out my new place in the team could have been streamlined had I known exactly what I was expected to do from the beginning. What does your team do to clarify the responsibilities of team leadership?
Our 2015 rebranding from
this monstrosity to our
new logo felt awkward initially, as many of our old pit things, shirts, and whatnot still had the old logo and a whole lot of comic sans. Even still, we have some mentors who've been with the team for a long time who still occasionally wear mechanics' shirts with the old logo. I've skimmed 254's branding standards document on their website, and I was curious if other teams had dcuments like this. How does your team ensure consistent, unified use of your team logo and team colors?
Before competitions each year, our team meets to go over a code of conduct document. This paper, usually one double-sided page, goes over the basic rules of competition, regarding student behavior at the event, on the ride to/from the event, and in hotels. It's usually pretty brief, bulleted statements, and we don't require a signature. Does your team do something similar to this? What do you do that's different?
I can't possibly have an anecdote related to everything this topic could cover. So, in addition to these,
what other forms of official standards do teams utilize, and how are these standards presented to the team?